Waco / Bryan, TX - HDTV - Page 213

Hello, This is my first post and I'm pretty much a rookie when it comes to antenna technology and what not.

We will be using an antenna to get(hopefully) a few channels at tailgate on gamedays. No one in our tailgate currently has satellite subcrips...so we're just going to try to pick up CBS/ABC/FOX/NBC...

I bought the basic RCA indoor amplified off-air antenna rabbit ears today to try them on the LCD TV we'll be bringing out there. It picked up 3-1 and 3-2(KBTX 1 and KBTX2)...also the KAMU channels(PBS or local broadcasting?) and it got FOX pretty choppy, but no abc.

I tried this in South CS with a good amount of tall trees near the house.

My question is...can I pick up ABC with these rabbit ears($40 RCA that are intended for indoor use)...or could I get ABC with an outdoor antenna, and if so...what antenna should I look for that would work well with a tailgate setup?(that's why I originally tried the smaller rabbit ears but if they are indoor antennas will I experience issues with wind?)

Also...what's off air/on air? Do I need an antenna that can find both to get ABC?
thanks so much in advance!


Example: would something like this be ideal, especially to find the ABC channel? http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...40644#inTheBox

effective october 1st Time Warner Cable is scheduled to move the public access channels to digital only and will be on their current channels with STBs and Cable Card equiped third party DVRs or QAM tuning devices.

they will be on these QAM channels according to the following link

10-10 waco city cable channel
10-17 waco i.s.d. tv
10-18 College Channel

http://www.waco-texas.com/pdf/inform...Y%20LIMITS.pdf

note the link says August 5th as the transition but TWC has delayed it until 10/1/10.

here in the dallas metro TWC will make the public access channels on digital channels only as well on 10/1/10

here they will be on

15-1 government access
15-2 public access
15-3 government access 2
15-4 educational access
15-5 educational access
15-6 educational access
15-7 public access in certain cites
15-8 public access in certain cites
15-9 public access in certain cites
15-10 public access in certain cites
15-101 public access in certain cities
15-102 public access in certain cities

Non-techno genius translation please?

Basically, you will lose those channels unless you have a cable box or a digital TV with a QAM (digital cable) tuner. Your old analog TV plugged into the wall won't pick up those stations come October 1.

DirecTV has added two local channels.

KAMU-PBS Channel 15 The picture quality is pretty crappy today, although it is HD, It looks like they're picking the signal up from OTA.

KRHD-ABC Channel 40 I haven't seen any HD so far.

What is the point of having KRHD on D*? Isn't that a duplicate of KXXV (newscasts and everything)? KAMU has some separate programming (my son is seeing Mr. Rogers for the first time), but KRHD doesn't as far as I know.

The ONLY difference I can see in the guide is at 11:30am each weekday morning. KXXV has The Insider while KRHD has Paid Programming.

KRHD used to have a B/CS-focused newscast at 10pm - not sure if they still do anymore (haven't been to B/CS for a while and don't have DirecTV...).

Jim

Hey y'all,

I'm going to cancel Suddenlink TV, since most of the shows I watch are on local channels. However, even though the antennas for KYLE and KMAY are in the same location, I can't pick up KMAY with my indoor antenna. Should I opt for an outdoor antenna? It doesn't seem like it's necessary, since I'm only 8 miles away from the transmitter, in the Southside neighborhood of CS.

As a side note, I'm keeping Suddenlink internet. Would I be able to get local channels on HD via QAM, rendering my antenna problems moot?

Edit: These are the channels that I'm currently receiving:
KBTX
KAMU
KYLE
KRHD

I've wondered this for a while now. I have Suddenlink phone and internet. I just never checked because I have D*.

Yes you will be able to get the clear qam channels as long as you have a tuner.... we get kbtx, kamu, kcen, kyle, krhd and wgn in hd. I only have internet through them now and use my media center to watch and record the locals..... not guarantee it will always be like that but we get the locals w/o needing a tv package.

As of last night, BCS Suddenlink has added KBTX2 (CW) to it's HD lineup. It's been on HD package for a few weeks, but last night was the first time it's actually been HD. Glad to have it.

Recently,I just upgraded from DTV from a converter box to an actual HDTV (flat-panel LCD). I usually have no problems picking up all the local channels but recently on KWKT 44.1 and KWTX 10.1,I think there have been some sort of broadcast glitches.
The first occurence happened last week during"Fringe" then last night during "House".
The screen went black after the audio track mysteriously hung on one word.
The only way to get the broadcast back was to switch the set off then on.
Is it my flat-panel or a broadcast problem?

Don't always count on getting clear QAM if you subscribe to Suddenlink internet but not TV. My friend had both cable and internet from them, then later canceled cable. The analog cable went away, but the clear QAM remained (or rather, he discovered it after finally getting an HDTV). However, when he moved across town (and had the same internet-only service installed at his new house), he only got one analog + one QAM channel (which weren't anything worth watching), so apparently they put on more restrictive filters if you only order internet.

WOW.....it been 35 days since anyone has posted a message on this board.
Did all of you fall into a hole?
I am looking for opinions and comments on the quality of the Dish Network service as compared to DirectTV. Any comments would be appreciated as I am going to drop Suddenlink service within the next couple of weeks. Every time I get a new bill from Suddenlink the price keeps going up by $2 to $3 dollars each time.

You have to define "quality". If sports are high on your list then DirecTV is likely to be the best choice. It's the only way you can get NFL Sunday Ticket and several other sports features are unique to DirecTV. For example, during major golf events like The Masters they have 6 channels devoted to the event. One channel is the same one everyone gets, one channel follows only the big name group (almost always Tiger), one channel only covers the 3 holes of Amen Corner, one channel only has the leaderboard and stats, etc.

How many DVR's do you have? DirecTV only charges one flat fee of $7 per month, no matter how many you have. Dish charges per DVR, $10 for each Solo and $17 for each Duo.

Dish has an advantage with built-in Slingbox technology on one of their DVR's. You can use Slingbox with DirecTV but you would have to buy it separate.

Overall, I would say DirecTV is viewed as the BMW of the satellite world while Dish would be a Chevrolet. Depending on your needs, Dish can be cheaper but it will still get most people from point A to B. If you need the absolutely lowest basic package cost, then Dish is the way to go.

Note that I've been with DirecTV for almost 12 years, so I'm biased and YMMV.

Hi, does anyone here have Windows 7 Media Center. I have it installed on 2 machines and I'm having a hard time tuning KCEN and it's subchannels. I have a TV tuner that picks up a good clean signal without a problem. I'm using an attic mounted antenna in Round Rock.

I can pick up the following stations without any issue and hold a good consistent signal. Just KCEN and Windows 7 Media Center don't play well. (Using a HVR-1250 and 2250 tuner)

6.1, 6.2, 6.3 (KCEN)
7.1 (KTBC)
10.1, 10.2 (KWTX)
18.1, 18.2, 18.3 (KLRU)
24.1, 24.2, 24.3 (KVUE)
25.1, 25.2, 25.3 (KXXV)
31.1, 31.2 (KAKW)
36.1 (KXAN)
42.1, 42.2 (KEYE)
46.1, 46.2, 46.3 (KNCT)
54.1, 54.2 (KNVA)
62.1, 62.2 (KAKW)

Same here. From what I've gathered, and it's been posted a few pages back, the station's signal is what the root of the problem is. I finally just ditched the antenna and bring it in over ClearQAM. Works 100% and I've never lost the signal or missed a recording.

thanks, I saw that and was hoping it would be fixed or a "hack" would have been found. I can pick up NBC in Austin with no issues, so it is only the occasion movie I want to record on THIS that I miss out on.

I too switched to QAM a few years ago, mainly because of KCEN. Heck, I live in Waco and using an antenna always gave me issues with that station. I even switched from TWC to Grande internet because TWC dropped a few QAM stations.

If you can go clear qam..... I ditched ota years ago like most around here. I think there have been psip issues with kcen as well where they don't appear to media center correctly (somebody here had that issue and its also been discussed on thegreenbutton.com). I would link you but I don't remember who had that issue.

When I first made the move to HDTV, I started with VOOM. When it caved, I went with DISH for about 2 months. I was not impressed at all, so I went with D* and have been with them ever since (6+ years). I'm sure DISH has made improvements, but I believe my money is still better spent on D*.

KYLE has been 'jittery' for at least two days on Suddenlink. Like getting a quarter of a second of motion then jumping forward a quarter of a second-very hard to watch. It's the only station that it's happening to. And FOX has the Superbowl, so I hope it's ironed out before then!

Have you tried using an OTA signal? I watched American Idol on FOX 44 via D* and didn't notice any problems. I'll check by OTA antenna tonight and see how KYLE (FOX 28) looks.

No I haven't. I still have my antenna mounted in my attic from my directv days, and that will get hooked back up for Sunday if the problem continues. Thinking back, I first noticed this on Sunday and it persisted through at least Tuesday (didn't even turn a TV on last night). I have two HD cable boxes in the house of different types and it was happening on both. Good to know it wasn't coming through OTA that way.

Are you noticing this only during FOX programming or does it also happen during Syndication, My Network, or HD Local News?

Due to the implementation of Wide Screen Graphics at FOX, we were forced to replace our KYLE FOX decoder to pass Active Format Descriptor (AFD).

NOTE: D* and Dish carry KWKT from OTA (not KYLE) and are not affected by this change
(The KWKT FOX Splicer passes the entire FOX stream to KWKT untouched by us).

We installed the new decoder January 19th and worked with Suddenlink to get their SD (Channel 7) down-converter to switch from full screen to letterbox correctly during FOX programming.

This change should only have affected Suddenlink SD (Channel 7) during FOX programming.
(The new decoder actually improves the quality of the FOX video OTA and on the Suddenlink HD channel)

One side benefit of this decoder is that it can be configured to pass Dolby Surround and we have ordered an Evertz Dolby encoder to be able to implement it.

The issue that you describe sounds like bit starvation that could be occurring at several points in the delivery system including our system or Suddenlink.

We monitor KYLE OTA here in Waco full time (Quad Channel 28 antennas on our STL tower here in Waco).

I was here for the Sickle Cell Telethon and stayed for the first quarter of the Pro Bowl to verify AFD switching on Suddenlink Channel 7. (via the Slingbox in our Bryan office)

I did not see any indication of pixelization or stuttering OTA or on the SD Suddenlink feed. (I was not monitoring the Suddenlink HD channel for the reasons stated above)

If this issue can be traced to something we have done here, I am anxious to work with all of you to get it corrected as soon as possible. We value your input and I check this forum every day for any new concerns expressed.

Thanks, FOX44CE. I can tell you that two of the shows where it was instantly noticable were the Pro bowl on Sunday and Human Target (Monday or Tuesday). National-feed commercials had it during the times I was watching, but unfortunately our local commercials are all composed of still pictures or a person standing still and talking, so if it was there it wasn't evident. Those are the two examples that I can come up with off the top of my head. I didn't watch anything at all last night. If I see it again I'll take better mental notes, as well as check the SD channel.

I monitored our KYLE FOX HD Decoder for errors and the HD Encoder spare bit rate to verify that the bandwidth was sufficient and not starving during FOX.

The HD Decoder logged no buffer errors from 7 to 9 PM and the HD Encoder spare bit rate never dropped below 1 Megabit.

If the issue is bit starvation, it's not in our processing here in Waco.

The ASI MPEG2 stream is passed unchanged through our digital microwave to the transmitter site and there directly to the transmitter exciter.

FOX44CE
I watched KYLE 28 last night OTA (Fringe) in College Station and the video was looking very jerky during movement. The signal wasn't pixelating, just very jerkly, almost unwatchable. I did not notice this on the SD feed just now (Sat 10:28PM).

I am here at the KWKT studio master control today (Super Bowl Sunday) until after the Super Bowl.
We are airing the pre-game show right now and Inside the Rings earlier from FOX on KWKT & KYLE.
I have a dedicated monitor on the KYLE FOX decoder on the digital rack.
I am also monitoring KWKT & KYLE OTA on side-by-side Sony 32" monitors.
I do not see any indication of the stuttering that you describe.
As a matter of fact the picture quality on KWKT & KYLE is identical.