Hartford, CT - OTA - Page 197

Yes i am having same problem with my 722, I did a new scan channels and a new channel is up 44.1 it to has a strong signal but when you go to it it also blinks no signal
Were you able to fix your problem?

44.1 seems to be from waco texas a fox affiliate hmm wondering if weather is causing the problem 66.1 andd 44.1 keep blinking on our dish 722

I see the 44.1 after scanning too. On another standalone TV with a digital converter box, 44.1 is there also, on that TV it works, showing 61.1 programming with those wacky station call letters....

I was flipping through channels on my bedroom tv tonight and I noticed that 44.01 was showing up as KWKT. It had the same programming as 61.1 WTIC. KXKT is a tv station from Texas. I've heard of signal bounce before...but I'm thinking that something else was going on?

Is this off-air TV ... or possibly something from cable/satellite? KWKT is the FOX affiliate for Waco TX. They are analog channel 44 and are currently transmitting their digital signal on channel 57. Unlikely that there's any propagation (especially with all the reports posted here) from Waco to southern New England! More likely: PSIP information being transmitted in the off-air signal or a signal on the cable/satellite has KWKT's information. Tip: watch for local advertisements ... or better yet, watch during the local 10 PM timeframe to see if you get FOX 61 Hartford CT local news - or something else. (Waco TX is in the central time zone. I've been to KWKT *years* ago; I don't know if they have local news or not - check their web site.)

This is an ota problem. This afternoon Im no longer recieving 44.1 on my scan but still have 61.1 flashing Wondering is it just people with dish recievers having this problem?

I think it was. It was still happening to me late yesterday afternoon, but by WS time last night it was working again.....

Interesting find at the WFSB website. A national survey was done in the top 50 markets ans to which DMAs are the most ready for the digital switchover next February. Hartford/New Haven ranked second on the most prepared side.

http://www.wfsb.com/digital-tv/17957907/detail.html

I wouldn't read too much into this. What it doesn't say is that 50% of the Hartford/New Haven OTA viewers are completely unready, though some markets are in considerably worse shape (e.g. 84% of New York OTA viewers are completely unready).

Apparently, paying for ad supported TV is considered a "successful" transition, even if it means sacrificing free OTA HDTV for analog pay cable.

Is the soft analog shutdown test still on for tomorrow night?

In the LA area, it is scheduled for tonight, but I found no indication of such from the morning news, newspaper or any of the website.

Hopefully, the Hartford stations are doing a better job of promoting it, especially since 30 minute tests are a lot harder to miss than 2 minute tests.

The tests for Hartford are tomorrow from 12:00pm to 12:30pm and 5:00pm to 5:30pm.
Rhode Island is I believe on the 15th for 24hrs. That is quite a test if it is happening that for that duration.

I'm located in Cheshire, CT and was wondering which cable providers you prefer?

I was leaning towards Directv with their large # of HD channels. The other choices are cox and comcast.

Any help or input would be greatly appreciated, I'm trying to avoid getting stuck in a contract with a carrier that has bad reception/service.

TIA,

Jason

The general manager of Channel 8 / MyTV 9 was seated at the anchor desk along with the two news anchors and talked about the tests for about four minutes at 5:25PM Tuesday, 12/2. He said about 60,000 households in Connecticut receive their TV channels over-the-air. A sample message that analog viewers will see during the tests was shown: wavy color bars with a scroll stating, "If you see this message, you need to take action..."

At around 5:47PM, Channel 3 ran a three or four minute pre-taped piece with a reporter standing in front of their broadcast tower on Avon Mountain. There was a brief sound bite from their chief engineer at the studio. Channel 30's 6PM newscast made no mention of the tests.

During morning drive time, the state's major radio station, WTIC, had a live interview about the tests and about a preparedness meeting concerning them that was held later in the day at the State Capitol Building with government, cable, and local broadcast officials. If you'd like to hear that interview, click http://www.wtic.com/pages/5645.php Scroll down the page, looking in the left column under "Recent Episodes" for the headline in blue, "The Digital TV Test". Click on the play icon to launch audio in a separate window.

In one of these reports, it was stated that results of the tests, like the number of viewer phone calls to the number on the screen, would be released around next Monday, 12/8.


Hi Jason. The best people to ask about their experiences with Cox and Comcast are the current subscribers who post on two other AVS Forum threads.

The link for "Hartford, CT - Cox" is http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...592183&page=43

The link for "Hartford, CT - Comcast" is http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...585963&page=73

A good source for opinions about Direct TV is http://www.dbstalk.com

I hope that these links help you to decide.

Is CPTV broadcasting the UConn women in HD? I flipped to the game tonight on Cablevision, we only get the SD CPTV feed, and it was letterboxed in a 4:3 window (black bars all around). When I zoomed it filled up the whole 16:9 screen.

I've connected my converter box and get all my current analog stations except for either of the CBS affiliates.

I have a rotor and neither WCBS nor WFSB come in when the antenna is rotated to the proper direction.

Does anyone know if these 2 stations are broadcasting their digital signals at full power?

Thanks

If you're getting WPIX-DT 11-1, you won't receive WFSB, as the two stations are on the same channel.

In fact, it's good news, really, since WCBS-DT will be inheriting WPIX-DT's current channel and transmission facilities after the transition. If you get 11-1 now, you'll get WCBS 2-1 after the transition.

Don't know why you don't get WCBS-DT now, though...

- Trip

WFSB-DT is on RF channel 33 and is running at their final operating parameters. If you are in Monroe you should only be about 35 miles from the WFSB-DT transmitter site.

As Trip pointed out ... WPIX-DT is currently also on RF channel 33. When the transition occurs next Feb, WPIX-DT will go back to RF channel 11 and at the same time WCBS-DT will move from RF channel 56 to 33. That effectively means that there will always be a NYC based station on the same frequency as WFSB-DT.

A quick look at the map would put Monroe upwards of 60 miles from NYC? And although not exactly 180 degrees in the other direction I would expect that NYC would be "off the back of the antenna" when you are aming at WFSB-DT. Unless you have something that would degrade WFSB-DT's reception in your area (terrain) I would think that an antenna with some gain and decent front-to-back ratio (rejection of signals off the rear of the antenna) you should have a chance at receiving WFSB-DT.

FCC coverage map for WSFB-DT

Anyone know how Dish and DirecTV did on tonight's tests? I know they have failed a bunch of them so far in other areas. (They are still getting their signals via analog in many areas.)

Perhaps one of you can help me understand this problem. Reception of DT channels from Rattlesnake mountain seem to vary widely. I don’t believe the cause is due to any of my equipment because the ChannelMaster 4228 is installed in my attic and is not directly subject to weather, including wind and rain. I live in Hamden. My Samsung HDTV displays signal strength as a series of bars, 10 of 10 being 100%. While HDTV signal strength varies, analog channel signals do not. On a good day, signal strength is at least 4 bars for the following channels.
3-1 WFSB-DT
8-1 WTNH-DT
10-4 ?
20-1 WTXX-DT
24-1 WEDH-DT
30-1 WVIT-DT
31-1 FOX-61 (DT)
43-1 WSAH-DT
45-10 ?
59-1 WCTX
This morning, I ‘lost’ the following channels, meaning the signal strength was zero.
3-1
20-1
30-1
31-3
Other times, I noticed channel 3-1 was fine, but 24-1 was zero. There were other scenarios where some of the lost channels were fine while others disappeared.

Is this variation normal?
Does the stations’ transmission power vary that much for now, but will be more stable after February, 2009?
Does rain, wind, cold, sun spots, etc. affect the DT signal more than analog signals?
Do I need a pre-amp for my antenna?
Can you suggest other forums to investigate or books to read?
I look forward to any and all of your comments.
Thanks.

Signal level should not change too much. It is either your HDTV or antenna that has the problem. You should use antenna pre-amp, especailly since it is in the attic. In some cases an attic can attenuate signal by 50%, plus being in the attic you can't really point the antenna exactly in the right direction.

AntennaMonkey:

Are you still around?

WFSB was granted a maximized CP for 1000kW with a non-directional pattern. Currently it has a "triangle" pattern (I'm sure there's a more technical name for it). When constructed, this will increase the ERP in the direction of Monroe by about 150kW (not very significant in dB terms).

Attached is a plot of interference received from the STA WPIX facility (160kW/310m AGL/ND) vs. WFSB's current facility. Note that WCBS will have more power than WPIX, so this will be slightly worse, post-transition.

It's situations like these which makes me wonder why 52-59 were auctioned off along with 60-69. We simply don't have enough channels. WFSB could go back to 3 I suppose.

Trading 52-59 (7-59) for 2-6 (2-51) was not a good move.

Edit: WTIC and WPXN will also be battling it out next year, on 31. Currently, KPXN's analog signal is on 31, but the DTV signal may be more problematic.

acrispin77 - PM me. I may be able to help...


As for WFSB in Monroe, I highly doubt it. Believe there's a pretty big terrain block to most of the town.

Example - I'm high enough to get LOS to the ESB here, but would need a 300' + tower to get LOS to WFSB

I am in Clinton and am thinking of putting up a top flight roof antenna, amp and rotator. Can someone give me an List of what stations I would pull in with decent signal (no breakups etc.) How about NYC - Do I have a shot at anything (about 90 air miles, no obstructions)? Set is a new Sony XBR6.

Yes I am. I havent posted. Just reading

WFSB must be the lamest station in the universe. If you look out the window and there is snow on the road, there is a parking ban. I don't choose to watch an HD station to have the local affiliate screw it up by posting the stupid parking ban info on the bottom and ruin my experience. I demand a reshow of Nmumb3rs in full HD without the parking ban junk on the bottom. STOP CATERING TO THE BRAIN DEAD!!!

I use off air as well as cable (clear QAM)for HD. Most stations are now running multiple streams OTA. WGBY is at 4 all the time. Channel 30 has a sports stream, so heavy motion. CPTV still at one, WFSB 4, I think, etc.. I gather these streams take bits away from (compression?) the total available for the channel. That bit sharing may reduce the quality of the HD picture.

So the question. If there is an HD show I want to see will I get the best picture from clear QAM (COX) or OTA? Do cable companies steal bits? Is there a point I may notice things are not at their best?

Each program stream is compressed when it is encoded with the MPEG2 standard. The ATSC digital terrestrial television standard used in the US provides for approximately 19.39 mbps (megabits per second). Some of that is consumed for overhead: program guide and other information (in reality the overhead is quite minimal). The rest can be used for audio and video information. Most stations use constant bit rate (CBR) encoding - so you can think of that like a pie being divided up. If you have only one program stream the whole pie can be devoted to that single program. If you have multiple programs you have to divide the pie into pieces. HD programming needs a higher bit rate than SD programming and in general the more bits you devote (the more pie!) the better the quality will be on the receiving end.

I should also note that some broadcasters are moving towards a system where when they have multiple program streams they encode them with a variable bit rate (VBR). The encoders for all the program streams communicate with a multiplexer and the bit rates for each stream (sub channel) are dynamically adjusted based on what is being broadcast. In this way scenes with a lot of movement (which require higher bit rates) can be given more bits (pie) whilst scenes with little movement can be given less bits. VBR provides for better use of the available bandwidth with the result being (most of the time) overall better picture quality.



Most cable companies take the off-air stations' signals and put them bit-for-bit up on their cable systems. Therefore want you get off the cable is the same quality as what the broadcaster transmits. (I'm not sure what COX is doing - maybe someone else can provide info?) Typically a station that has only one program stream will have more information in that stream and thus maybe better picture quality. WEDH-DT 24.1 and WWLP-DT 22.1 are single streams; WWLP is 16.5 mbps which is quite high bandwidth. (You can really tell the difference when watching a decent HD show on NBC.) Other HD digital cable channels may be transmitted with the same or even more bandwidth - there's not a real easy way to tell unless you do something like record the QAM stream on your computer and use a utility that will tell you the effective audio and video rates.

I know this is a bit technical - hope it answers some of your questions.

My understanding is that local channels are fed to COX directly. I'm not concerned with that. I guess the cable part of my question is, do the cable companies alter the feed in any way? I'm sure they have bandwidth concerns and just wonder if they do a hack job. If they leave things untouched I'm guessing the best quality is with cable.

Two full-bandwidth off-air (ATSC) HD channels fit nicely into one cable 256QAM channel. The easiest thing for the cable operator to do is grab the packets (bits) from the broadcaster and put them unaltered on their system. I would say that would be the norm.

If a cable operator wanted to manipulate one of the off-air channels they could - there is equipment that can further compress the bandwidth (it can be done in a couple of ways). That equipment isn't cheap.

There is someone from COX who occasionally posts in the Providence RI AVS Local HDTV forum. You may want to ask there to see if they can find out if the CT/RI COX systems are passing the HD locals untouched or not. (I am in MA and don't have any COX contacts - COX only has one town with a few hundred subscribers in Massachusetts and that is fed from CT.)

In summary - yes, I would say that given the norm is for cable operators to pass HD locals through with the same bandwidth as what the broadcaster transmits there wouldn't be any difference in cable quality as compared to off-air quality.