Traverse City, MI - HDTV

NEXT SUMMER for ABC? Dammit, I'm getting tired of watching MNF in crappy SD, and then seeing the highlights in HD on ESPNHD through Charter.
It'd be nice to get Fox in HD before football season is over. 24's next season is starting in early Jan too, maybe it'll be 720p 5.1.
I don't have an antenna right now anyway, and who knows the timetable for Charter to add these locals to their HDTV lineup, but the sooner the better. I really wish they'd get NBC on there, seeing as how it's broadcasting OTA locally.
BTW just for anyones information, Charter rolled our HD in TC on 9-7. They have the motorola 6100 boxes, and the package has HDNet and HDNet movies, Discovery, ESPN, HBO/Showtime and CBS. I'm hoping for NBC soon, and maybe they'll add HD versions of the other movie channels like Cinemax, Starz, etc in a timely fashion.

Also did a search for Traverse City, that's how I found this, but there are a few other AVSers out there in the forums.

Vhagar

Stumbled into this thread - down here in Webster/Livingston, near Ann Arbor all Charter is offering is HDNet, HDNet Movies, ESPN, HBO, SHOW - no Discovery, no CBS so you are luckier than us!!

They are not even marketing yet - I found out by accident. Crazy.

WGTU fired up the digital transmitter late last week and I was receiving the signal in Suttons Bay, however the signal had significant problems. My RCA DTC-100 reported the signal as 31-31 and the picture looked like an old silent movie with the pauses between frames. I guess that is significant stutter and intermittent audio. I reported it to the station engineer and he thought it might be a programming problem with the new equipment.
The good news is that the signal is much stronger than NBC or CBS.
Is anyone able to receive the signal and picture correctly?

Just wanted to let you know that there will be another HDTV user trying to pull in TC and Cadillac stations from Manton (nice in-between right?). I'll be monitoring this for more info, and posting my results. Right now, I'm just pulling in the locals with analog (gonna stick with OTA for now)... hope to get a digital STB soon!

My parents live in Boyne City so have been watching this thread occasionally. Antennaweb is pretty bleak for this location -- enter 49712 for zip. You'll see ABC,Fox, and PBS all in blue/violet analog with no predicted digital signals. The towers are even in different directions; It doesn't get much worse than that.

Quick question: Is there any digital station currently multicasting in this market? Thanks.

mlcarlson,

You are correct it looks bleek. The good news is antenna web usually is very, very conservative about digital stations. They claim I should get but 2 digitals and I get 15. I'd check with others in your area but remeber you are going to need the best possible equipment. Kepp the coax runs under 50 feet if possible and your need a good rotor CM 9521a. Check what equipment you neighbors are using. Radio Shack isn't going to cut it up there. Your need top of the line Channel Master, Winegard , Jerrold , or Antennas Direct. Should be able to get a good UHF digital system for less then $300 complete.

Did a little research looks like digitals in your area that you should definetly get.
WCMV DT 17 CADILLAC
WFUP DT 59 VANDERBILT
WCML DT 57 ALPENA
WGTU DT 31 TRAVERSE CITY

You problem lies with a lot of your stations are at reduced power for digital. There are several others you'll get in the future when they go full power. I'd go with an excellent UHF antenna XG 91 or DB 8 from antennas direct. They cost around $100 but can be returned if you can't get the stations you want. They also have the best warranty in the business. Any damage from wind, lightning, etc they replace it for free for life. You may need to stack antennas and the xg91 is better for that. These antennas have the most gain of any UHF and will give you the best shot.

Other very good antennas are CM 4228 UHF. Winegard makes a good one also but they roll off quickly above channel 50 and you have 2 stations above 50.

You may have a shot at Green Bay also but thats about at the very edge of reception hopes.

I use a single xg91 with no amp and get reliable digital stations as far away as 70+ miles over mountains. Some are also at reduced power. Not as bad as that WWTV in Cadillac. You'd be lucky to get them across the street at their power. Some stations are just operating at enough power to be legal. May be a Sinclair broadcasting that's a fine bunch. I didn't notice when I pulled them up.

You can check coverage maps at the link below. Just punch in the call sign or city state where station is located and it will give you info on the stations. You can also check stations within a certain radius of your area by using the Lat and Long area at the bottom.
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/audio/tvq.html

good luck and happy new year!

Well, santa was good to me and I now have a HD tuner (the $200 Wal-Mart one). Using two stacked radio shack 930-0998 antennas in my front, lower story window pointed north, I get both WPBN-DT and WGTU-DT at about 90%. Using a Radio Shack 15-2160 pointed south to Cadillac, I get WWTV-DT (and the FOX and PBS analog stations). All antennas are running through a 15-2507 booster after the A/B switch.

I probably don't need the two antennas stacked pointing north, but they were hand-me-downs and they work fine that way so why change a good thing?

My only question right now is if the ABC station is actually sending HD or not. I watched a program that was supposed to be in HD the other day and it looked upconverted. I'll let you know what I find out later!

Hope this helps someone!

Sorry, forgot to answer this one. I am only getting single stations, no multicasting that I can see.

Looks like ABC is still only broadcasting SD signal, and it is stretched to 16:9. That is pretty annoying if you ask me.

In the Straits area I am recieving CBS in HD on WWUP-DT out of the Sault. I emailed the other area networks and am waiting replies. I did though get this reply from FOX 33/45:

"HDTV should be available to Northern Michigan viewers sometime in the next 2 years".
Rockfleet Broadcasting/WFQX-TV

That does't sound very promising. When or if I hear from the others I will post.

Mr Ranger

Here the e-mails I got from WFQX (Fox 33/Rockfleet) on their Digital/HD signal:

When queried about a HD signal I got this:

"We will be updating our digital signal sometime in 2006. We will carry the FOX Network HDTV signal at that time."

I didn't know that they had any digital signal, so I asked and found out this:

"Our antenna pattern is very directional, and only covers the city of
Cadillac. It does cover some west of Lake Mitchell. There is very little
coverage to the north toward Manton."

Not promising.

Also, if you were getting the signal from WPBN-DT (NBC) and suddenly lost it, they updated their signal and you will need to re-map the station.

But, with the following this thread gets, I don't think anyone really cares

Any one know when CBS will go full power? I cant pick them up here in Interlochen. I spent alot of money on antenna's and amplifiers, and still couldnt get a signal. I thought I read on Michigan DTV for me website that as of the 1st of the year 2005 that if you can pick up there analog signal that you will be able to pick up there digital signal, in other words full power, I have disconected all my equipment in frustration, and was wondering if anyone has heard if CBS is at full power or not, they wont answer my e-mails no more.Thanks.

tvb6171
Are you able to receive 7 from TC? I can get 7 & 9 in Suttons Bay. I have talked to their engineering department and it didn't sound likely that a power increase would be coming. What antenna and amplifier are you using?

Well I was using a Channel Master 4248 and Channel Master 7775 pre-amp to try to get Channel 40, but had no luck, CBS said it was cause of a hill on Green Lake, I find that hard to believe. This was a year ago though, I got frustrated with one channel, that was 7&4 wich came in without a hitch, in fact i didnt need an antenna for them, just the cable picked them up. I got tired of the other stations telling me nothing on when they were going up, called ABC numerous times, kept saying "soon", so I sold my receiver on ebay, I kept my antenna system for the future I hope. Sounds like ABC finally got up now, just not in true HDTV though huh?. I talked to FOX last year and they were like telling me "in my dreams you will see us in HDTV" which was shocking to say the least, another readon why I gave up, was really hoping to watch some lions games in HDTV. I really dont understand why these station dont use HDTV signal to there advantage, such as multicasting, I would dump Charter in a heartbeat if the locals would multicast some of the cable channels, they could do that, but what do I know. Anyways getting the HDTV itch again, and was just wondering if CBS boosted there power or not, cause according to Michigan's HDTV guide, all stations currently broadcasting a digital signal are to be doing it at full power as of Dec 31st 2004, but sounds like not, so I will wait a while I guess, just returning Charter Moxi box thing today.Not that impressed, although you can record HDTV, but you just get CBS and a couple other channels that dont broadcast much, The moxi is cumbersome too, Directv's Tivo was much better.

Oh ya I was using the Samsung SIR-151

My sister in Beaulah and my neighbor in Suttons Bay both have Charter HD service. I can't believe they only offer the one network in HD.
I installed a setup for a friend at the south end of the bay using the same antenna and amp as you have. He was not able to get 9. I am further north on the bay and receive it fine. I do believe the local hills are the reason. Fortunately, this same friend was able to get the national HD network feeds from Directv and uses the antenna to get 7 for local news. I'm not sure if his eligibility will change with the recent change in the law. Have you checked your eligibility with Directv?

No I havent checked with Directv, I cant use them anymore since I dont have landline phone anymore, I use to have Directv (I was an early adopter back in the good old days), but cancelled about a year ago, there standard channels were looking pretty bad there after all the channels they put up. Well I hope there will be a time when I can get CBS and FOX, but untill then I guess I'll stick with Netflix. Thanks for your info though, at least I know I'm not missing out right now, but do you know if you can use QAM through Charter to get CBS HDTV channel or not? I've read some people have got some of there HDTV channel throgh QAM through there local Cable system, but knowing Charter they would have no Idea what I'm tlking about.

I have no experience with QAM reception but there has been a lot of discussion in the Phoenix AZ thread recently.

I have also read that a landline is not required for Directv as long as you don't order pay per view or any special sports programming unless you have a HD TIVO. It may be worth a call to see if you are eligible for any national HD feeds. The quality you mentioned should get better after the new satellite launches this summer add capacity.

Anyone have any luck pulling in HDTV signals from Green Bay? and is 7&4 broadcasting 5.1 Dolby Digital yet? I'm thinking I might take the plunge again, since receivers have got a little cheaper.