Greenville, SC - HDTV - Page 50

I just wanted to confirm a similar occurance with WLOS. I'm a little surprised no one else has mentioned it. I currently don't receive any signal from WLOS. It doesn't register on my signal meter at all. This is even worse than before. At least the first time it was broken, I could receive a very pixilated, although quite unwatchable, image. I could also change my signal strength by rotating directions - but could never get it quite strong enough for a watchable picture. Now I get zero picture and rotating the antenna doesn't cause any increase in signal strength. It just sits at "bad" and never increases (my signal meter goes from "bad" up to "excellent" rather than a assign a numeric value).

So what ever was wrong with it before, it is worse this time. Let's hope they can get their act together and fix it in less than one month this time.

I noticed the signal was completely gone as well. My guess is there is a loss of power at the transmitter site. They do not have back up power for digital. It would be nice if they could keep us informed when this happens, but that might show a little concern for us digital wing nuts out here. They surely wouldn't want to set a precedent by providing us with any useful information.

Perhaps it was just power loss at the transmission site because they had it back up working last night. I was able to get nice, clean powerful signals from both 13-1 and 13-2.

I'm not sure when you were last on Bellsouth DSL, but I get 3mb downloads, and I don't just mean in name either. On pcpitstop.com I tested at 3003 down and 318 up. This is incredible, and I don't live right next to a switching station either. And not to mention this was around 5pm. On cable your speed takes a definite hit during primetime hours. Also I've found Bellsouth DSL to be more stable.

I do own the HD DVR Tivo, and itis worth every penny. Being able to integrate my ota antenna into it and program it to record ota broadcast as well as through DirecTV is something I couldn't live without now.

Walter

Walter-- I had BellSouth just a few weeks ago. They do not offer 3MB in my area, and had no idea if and when they would. I agree that it was completely stable, as I only had one major outage in 3+ years with them. Their customer service was adequate at that timie.

I also liked being able to integrate the OTA with the satellite receiver, but all in all, I like the trade I made right now. I never had any HBO or Showtime channels and had never even seen VOD before, so those things alone have made me very happy. I never buy DVD's anymore because there is always something in HD or on VOD to watch, so I save money there too!

I intend to review my options again next year when my contract with Charter is up....it's always a good idea. Perhaps DISH or DirecTV will have newer offerings and better prices....perhaps they will have a new deal for internet services as well. Who knows? I do know that as consumers, we too often fall into the trap of believing once we have chosen a service, we have to stick with it. In fact, they are trying to sell their products to US, and thus, WE have the ability to choose the best service that meets our needs.

Oh...and there's nothing to say you can't have more than one...

In case anyone else is interested. This box works great for OTA for me. My problem child (WLOS-DT) comes in great and there is no stutter problem during their HD programming like the Samsung 360, and the H10 have. This box is $199.00 at Wal-Mart and is OTA only.

Any takers as to what happens first: new antenna, or Spring weather?

Anyone else having trouble with WSPA-DT ch53 tonight? I'm using a HTPC with a couple of HDTV tuner cards in it. One of them is the Dvico Fusion HDTV II and the other is the Sasem OnAir usb. Anyway, I'm getting a strong signal, or so the software says, but I get no video or audio. This is the same with either tuner I use. It almost seems as if they've done something weird with their transport stream that my HDTV tuner cards don't like. Anyone else having issues?

I lost audio and video on my Hughes E86, but it looks fine on my US Data box. I believe they must have changed something in the PSIP because before there was no guide info on my US Data box and my E86 worked fine. Tonight there is guide data on the US Data box and the E86 doesn't have audio or video. I did a re-boot and a re-scan on my E86.

WSPA has confirmed that they did make a change to the PSIP yesterday. They would like reports of any receivers that are now having this problem, and they would like to know all the different type receivers viewers in this market are using. As people respond I will report info back to WSPA.

Thanks

WSPA uses a Samsung to monitor the signal, and they are looking to add receivers from other manufacturers. That is why they want to know the most widely used receivers in our area.

The so-called moxi box is finally available in the Asheville area.
A tech is scheduled to come out next Friday with one.

Any advise for the install?
[ I'll start slogging through the moxi forum in meantime ... ]

Make sure everything's working before you let the installers leave. I know that sounds obvious, but they might leave something pending and say that it'll fix itself in an hour, but disregard that sort of thing.

In my case, I suffered through the following with installation:

1) my HD channels were no longer accessible (required talking to five different people at Charter before this was fixed; it turns out conflicting control signals were sent to the box)

2) I wasn't getting program listings, and the Charter installer didn't know how to fix it. (MoxiGuy in the HDTV Recorders forum told me how to manually trigger an update; if not for him, I would've probably had to wait for another tech to come out since they won't tell you how to enter the service menu over the phone.)

3) This might not be a concern for you, but two HD channels had their listings transposed, making recording extremely problematic. Normally wouldn't be a big deal, but when I only have 5 or 6 HD channels capable of being recorded in the first place, having two of them unrecordable really is a pain. There's nothing the installers can do about this, but if you notice it, pester them into letting you know who to contact to fix it. This was a huge ordeal for me to get resolved -- everyone I called at Charter gave me a different answer (some said it was because the Moxi was in beta; some people blamed Tribute Media; some people blamed Digeo), and it took an extremely helpful Charter employee in a different state to help me finally get it fixed.

But anyway, check to make sure the channels you use the most are there, and make sure you get program listings before you let the installer leave.

They have taken PSIP off for the week-end, so anyone who was not getting audio and video should be fine now. My E86 is back to normal. They will try again next week.

I don't know how many people fall into this group, but if you subscribe to Charter HD but don't subscribe to Showtime, you can watch Showtime-HD (along with the SD Showtime/The Movie Channel tier) for the next few days for free during the Big Fat Free Preview or whatever they're calling this stupid thing. Showtime-HD is channel 778 on Charter. Showtime's website lists all HDTV movies slated to air, along with some other programming, and this promotion ends on 3/7.

I appreciate the tip Adam. I'll find a feature list and plow through it with the tech in tow.

Only 15% through the moxi box thread but I'm already a bit scared off from switching "up" from my 6200. Have the horrific SD quality issues been resolved or ought I think hard about keeping my original setup?

The box you'll be seeing is considerably different than the one described in the early posts of that thread. Analog SD does still look pretty lousy, but it's watchable. The next software update is supposed to improve that. It should roll out fairly shortly through Charter, and some of the smaller regional cable services already have it.

Yes, I noticed that the EPG data was present also, whereas I had not seen it before. With my Sasem OnAir usb tuner I use a piece of software called "TSreader" and it supports EPG data. Anyway last night TSreader was locking the signal and showing the EPG data but was behaving as if there were no video or audio streams present. Thankfully tonight everything is back to normal. The EPG data appears to be gone. So, it does seem there is some correlation between WSPA-DTs implementation of the EPG data in their stream and my issues. However, I should mention that on many other stations, including many I recieve from the Charlotee, NC area, I'm able to get EPG data and have no issues. So it must be something specific to the way they were implementing it in their stream and not an issue with EPG data in general.

Here's something else I observed. In addition to the Sasem OnAir usb and the Dvico Fusion tuners, I also have a MyHD tuner card and after posting here I tried it. I also had issues with it getting video and audio. However, I was able to have some limited success with it. By switching back and forth between other stations and WSPA-DT repeatedly I was every once in a while able to get audio and video on WSPA-DT but not on a regular basis. Anyway, once when I locked on to the video and audio I recorded a small sample clip. So far any piece of software I have tried to use to open and playback this file doesn't seem to like it and will either crash or fail to play any audio or video. So there was definitely something unusual about their transport stream last night. I hope that if they must implement EPG data they do so in a way that doesn't break compatiblity with most tuners in this way.

Split the signal until the 3.2 upgrade comes. I turned my Moxi box in. Well too much money to watch Duke vs Carolina like it was drawn by my 4 year old. Only the HD channels looked truely great on my misti TV. Make sure the do the upgrades to get VOD and the ticker. I had to call twice to get these added. GOOD LUCK.

Hmmm. I made it through the Moxi thread and can see your advise is on the money. At this point I'm 90% ready to call, cancel my impending install, and stay pat with the Moto6200. I'm usually an early adopter of this sort of tech, but no way I'm willing to take a hit on picture quality for the convenience of DVR. My setup is front projection, so those SD issues would be especially magnified. Besides, I like my sports drawn by at least a 12 year old.

Splitting the signal is not an option without additional hardware. My Infocus 4805 does not have a built-in tuner.

I have to chime in here. As long as you change the video output setting to 480i instead of a progressive format, your SD picture will look fine. It took me a few weeks to figure that out, but boy did it work. I have been very happy with my Moxi box.

Hi gjlowe and thanks for the input. Is this the Moxi workaround where you switch between 480i for SD channels and 1080i for HD?

DVD and Charter HD is 95% of my big screen viewing. I put a TV card in my PC for local news/weather so I don't have the fire up the projector for SD. Seems whacked to be spending so much with Charter for so few actually viewed channels. I'd jump on a reasonably priced (~$50) HD-only package, but that's a loooong ways away (if ever).

Am researching whether to 0) do nothing and stick with the 6200; 1) go ahead with Moxi; 2) wait until 3.2 resolves PQ issues; or 3) jump into the deep end of the pool -- aka HTPC obsession -- and firewire the 6200 to XP.

Shouldn't the name of this thread be Asheville/Greenville/Spartanburg?
Of course we've all got separate cable head ends, but isn't the OTA in common?

I think it may be time to have a seperate thread for OTA and cable. Most markets have a seperate thread for OTA and for cable providers. Since this was the OTA thread way before Charter started HD, maybe one of you Charter folks could start a new thread.

acksnay-- The thing to remember about cable is that you can watch all of the analog stuff in any room with a TV without a box, so the money I spend on cable is a better buy for my dollar than satellite. I too use the Moxi box basicially for HD programming and some movies in SD once in a while. The "workaround" for switching between SD and HD is a hassle, but not a huge deal, especially since 3.2 is supposed to fix this issue.

Ah so. Once more into the shadow of the foothills. Thanks for clearing that up Jerry.

Well, I'm getting WSPA-DT fine tonight and I'm also seeing the EPG data. So, looks like they finally got it all worked out tonight.