Waco / Bryan, TX - HDTV - Page 101

On another note, I talked to Lou at KWKT-FOX in Waco again today. We had a pretty good conversation, he was actually rather informative and understanding. However, it's not looking good for FOX-HD here in Aggieland. I was mainly interested in what constituted full power for their new transmitter, since, as I explained, we still could not receive KWKT-DT here and it appeared the FCC had them at 1000kw. He said the 1000kw is for channel 44 when they transition to analog cutoff, and for now the FCC only allows 300kw on the channel 57 DT antenna. The bad news, if it really matters for us, is he has learned that channel 57 is also used by a Houston area (Baytown?) station operating at 5000kw. Now, I'm not sure offhand just why that affects Waco, but he implied that because of this the FCC is considering making KWKT-DT drop their power even more, down to 200kw!!
I even had you Cox lovers in mind. I quizzed him about Cox picking up their signal, and he informed me that he had talked to Cox about putting something (a dish?) on Cox's tower to get it, but Cox didn't want to do it. We both agreed the HD situation here was frustrating, being sort of in a no-man's-land. He said it was for them too, since throughout their corporation they have spent several $million on HD and don't feel like they get any return on the expense.

that kind of sucks about cox not wanting to put whatever dish on their tower, did lou know what cox wanted to do as far as getting the signal down here? sounds like another round of emails to the cox reps is in order.

Well, I wasn't sure if I should mention it, but he said something about Cox maybe trying to get another FOX-HD feed (read out-of-market). You can imagine what a can of worms THAT would open up!
Oh, and just for grins, I called KXXV again, too. Yadda, yadda, yadda!!

hmm definately interesting.... the only other one i could see would be houston or possibly austin (but that would be doubtful). I bet it has to do with the fact that wako fox also does WB programming (atleast i remember them doing something like that). And maybe cox is looking for a full 24x7 fox-hd feed. Wouldnt that be sweet if cox gave a big middle finger to wako and added the rest of the stations from houston? (I wouldnt shed a tear if that happened, but something tells me wako fox and abc would.... they can keep kcen, imo they are overall better with hd than kprc, in fact overall i would say kcen is the best local channel sans pbs, that actually switches to the right feed usually, especially with reruns.... kbtx is really really bad about switching to the hd feed sometimes)

Fox OTA via KYLE (at a power we could actually have a hope to get) - 10000:1
Waco/Bryan lil on D* - 50:1
KWKT on Cox - 50:1
Out of market Fox on Cox - 25:1
Fox via Verizon - 25:1
Houston lil on D* - 20:1

I have no doubt D* will be the first to offer "locals" but the big question is can b/cs people get them (which is why its a higher odd IMO). Just look at trying to call D* now as a new sub and getting houston locals... its next to impossible. I could see them wiping out all "houtson" locals here when they have HD-LIL and then its back to OTA only until D* gets waco feeds.

And labman.... call abc again and ask about cox

On the phase III DVR's I was reading in the HDTV Recorders forum and COX Orange County has the PIII boxes now so maybe there is hope.

I'm saving the rest of my minutes to call my Mom this week.

well spank... i made it. Harmony 880 ships this friday at the latest from bluedo. $174 before shipping (8 bucks) so a heads up for anybody else waiting for the Harmony 880.

I just wanted to give a quick update on my signal reception for the Houston locals. I just finished watching the entire episode of Smallville WITHOUT A SINGLE signal break in HD and Dolby Digital 5.1. This is one of my favorite shows that I have been unable to watch because of a commitment I have on Wednesday nights. I'm so glad the WB has moved it Thursday night at 7! I am currently tuned into KRIV FOX 26 and the O.C. in HD and DD 5.1. I've never really seen the O.C. but hey, everything looks great in HD! I continue to have great reception in the evening hours (5 PM and later). I also get great reception in the morning. My wife is excited that Good Morning America will be shifting to HD this fall. Happy HDTV viewing!

OK, but can you get KNWS, 51-1!?!? JK, glad you are enjoying your gear. Hope your results stay with you. I haven't really gotten into "OC", but I hear there are parts of the show that "look good"!

Thats what we have las vegas for..

Now that Jonnyb99 has a "smaller" antenna pulling in houstons like he is wonder what the odds are that dave (who should live pretty close) will be "changing" his configuration.

Unless D* kills my FOX & ABC feeds, I'm not moving that antenna. I don't watch WB or UPN, so it doesn't really matter to me.

I think antenna reception also has to do with the receiver. Maybe his receiver just picks the signal better than the HD-Tivo. Who knows.

update on cox... looks like the rebuild is somewhat done.

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.a...page=&opt=post

trying to verify if unihd is online though.... those channels are the new "added" extended basic channels but I dont have them yet on my box but as i posted in the thread the trucks have been in my area alot the past 2 weeks working on the boxes (not adding line like they have been in the past). So hopefully its a matter of time.

Jag....univ should be online now if they are done rebuilding your area. I have had it for a month or so.

Yeah, yeah....I dropped dish in favor of cox. I was able to get 2 hddvr's and my internet for about 20 buxs less than I was paying for dish and cox together, and that was with no hd dvrs. Sorry for everyone wanting to hop on my account at dish.

BTW, anyone want to make an offer on a dish 6000 and dish 501 (no pvr fee).

the 6000 sucks for a reason..... and its good to know i have a friend here again.

that sucks i dont have the upgraded network yet (mine hasnt updated yet)

Too bad my bulb in my X1 took a crap the other night. It only had about 550 hours on it. Its almost impossible to watch TV now on my 3500+ hour bulb.

Anyone want to buy an X1 with an old bulb. Need to start my plasma fund .... only $1800 more dollars to go.

plasma is for eeeeeediots.... front projector forever.

I have to at least partially agree with you, Jag, projection (front or rear) gives the most bang for the buck!

On another note, I have a contact at Verizon, and I asked him recently about the plan for fios service in B/CS. He said it's been kicked around a lot, but no definite plans have been made for starting on it. He thinks they will start putting the system in within a year, and it may take up to a year after that to get actual sevice started. I know, it still is rather vague info, just passing along to those of you "chomping at the bit" for this service.

Elspankdog --
here are a few pics of my antenna setup. I have two ten foot masts bolted together so there's no need for guy wire. The tripod is bolted directly to the roof and the cable runs from the antenna, down and out the mast and into a roof vent leading into my attic. The total cable run is about 40 feet. It's not the most inconspicuous antenna around, but I love the results I am getting. Thursday night was my first time to watch Smallville in HD OTA and it was awesome!

Elspankdog --
here's one more pic of my setup.

yep that thing sticks out worse than sids tower...

Believe it or not, I installed it all by myself . I had a smaller Winegard antenna mounted for several months, so when I installed the CM 4228 I was a little concerned about its durability during inclement weather. The CM 4228 is heavier and bulkier, but I have not had a single problem during inclement weather. Are you thinking about setting one up?

now wheres that voom photoshop when you need it...

Rumor is ESPN2-HD will launch 9-8 on D*.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...d.php?t=251536

if true would make sense with all the reduction in bw lately on D*. Guess they got tired of waiting for the mpeg4 stuff. (granted this is a D* rumor and we all know how accurate those have been)

I am actually suprised it took them this long (I expected when they added espnu that the 2HD would have been added at the same time)

And the guy who posted the rumor conviently ignored the pq reduction stuff when people posted the d/fw link.... that was pretty funny. He owned himself with his spouting off that there are no bw problems at D*.

If you have problems picking up KWKT-DT....
FOX (KTBC) in Austin did a signal upgrade today (56-1). Full power is/will be 1000kw.

Since today is the first day of the upgrade, engineers may still be testing at different ERP levels.

Might be strong enough so that Killeen, Temple, Belton, area can pick up with an outside antenna.