Rochester, NY - HDTV - Page 64

Okay here’s the deal. Back when MSG HD first launched on Time Warner in 2008, Sabres games were on channel 1043. Channel 1043 was the main NYC feed of MSG HD, and the Sabres games were ‘injected’ onto that channel. If you tuned in prior to the start of the game you’d actually see the feed switching over seconds before the Sabres intro started. As you probably noticed over the years, the picture quality on Sabres games has quite frankly sucked. MSG suggested to Time Warner in order to solve this problem that the Sabres games were put on their own separate channel. If you haven’t noticed, when the Sabres and Rangers didn’t play on the same night at the same time, the Rangers games used to be in the clear on 1043 and whenever the Sabres were on, we got the blue screen telling us to tune to channel 1092. The programming we got on MSG SD and MSG HD wasn’t always in sync with each other as the SD feed was the Buffalo feed and the HD feed was the NYC feed.

The picture got slightly better over time, and the audio break up issues were solved, but the PQ still sucked in comparison. Not sure what happened, but ever since the Avalanche/Sabres game last month, the picture quality of the HD Sabres games has been pristine, and now we even get the Dolby 5.1 audio feed. It looks like whatever problems have been plaguing TW and MSG over the past 3 or 4 years now are finally solved. And now, if you tune to MSG on 206 and MSG HD on 1043 the schedules are perfectly aligned, the transition between regular MSG programming and Sabres Hockey on MSG HD is now seamless. This leads me to the conclusion that the Buffalo feed of MSG, I believe the Buffalo/Rochester Zone is dubbed Zone #3, is now in HD where as before like I said it was the NYC feed with the Sabres slapped in there. Channels 1092 and 1043 are now simulcasts of each other, 1092 has the full MSG line up, and for the last handful of games, the Sabres could be seen on 1043 as well as 1092. The two channels aren’t mirrors of each other, as one channel is a second or two a head of the other, so each channel is using bandwidth. Unlike HBO HD on channels 1060 and 1100, that’s just one channel mapped and mirrored to two different channel numbers.

Now that everything is hunky dory in the land of MSG HD Zone 3 on Time Warner, there is no more need for channel 1092.

Thanks for explaining all that Steve Mehs. Their's no need to have 1092 when the same programming is on 1043 at the same time.

MLB Strike Zone HD added to channel 1541 yesterday.

Why does the NBC OTA feed for the NHL games suck so bad? Why do they insist on doing this? has anyone complained? Who do you call? Im sure noone is there Sunday anyways. Getting tired of this. And no, its not my antenna or anything else. All other stations are perfect.

Why dont they just shut it down and forget it?

Im gona be forced to get basic cable again...... AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH

Exactly how does it suck? Some TVs have issues with hockey games. What is your TV?

Would you rather that they not carry these games at all? The odds are that the problem is either in the origination of the game or in the distribution of the signal to NBC.
Monday morning call WROC and ask to talk to the chief engineer.

Maybe they should! That is likely your choice: if it is too crappy for you to watch, then don't. I'm sure that there are others that prefer to watch a crappy signal as opposed to no NHL at all.


It will be just as bad on basic cable as OTA.

i am not a hockey fan so i dont know when the games come on NBC but i have flipped through the channels in years past and caught a game on and was blown away by how real the ice looked on my tv in HD...i even watched the game for a little while too. and when the team usa played i remember making it an effort to watch them play. i would be interested to know what your tv is too.

It sucks because the signal pixelates and breaks up every five or ten seconds. The audio stops, the screen stutters, and your blood pressure spikes along with it. It will work for a while but then just magically start puking. No other channel does this. Ever. it's hard to predict but it seems to happen when you really wish it wouldn't.

My TV is a Pioneer KURO. It has a great tuner and when the signal isn't puking it does look excellent. That's what's even more frustrating.... You see how good it can be and then you get jacked with this erratic behavior. I'd prefer to watch the game without any puking. It's not asking to much. If they are going to support OTA then just do it correctly or simply go black and we'll just forget it. Do it right or don't bother. Turn the dial up. Increase whatever knob you have to. Call FOX and CBS and ask them why their signal, which is coming from the same exact area is perfect 100% of the time.

Sorry for the rant but search around and I'm not the only one complaining about NBC.

So I gather that you have not called WROC and asked what the heck is going on? What on earth makes YOU think that it is their lack support of OTA? You refer to widespread problems with NBC, then it would follow that it is NOT JUST WHEC OTA and likely the most effective approach for YOU is to GET ON THE PHONE and TALK TO WROC. Further, if you are really pissed, write a letter to WHEC complaining about the poor technical quality and (this is important!) REQUEST THAT THE LETTER BE INCLUDED IN THE PUBLIC FILE!

Er, isn't NBC WHEC rather than WROC?

- Trip

I live in a difficult area, by the bay and I'm only 4 miles from Pinnacle hill. The signal is not aimed toward the lake, since no one lives there. I've found Webster to be troublesome, but a good antenna will fix the problem.

Your location just says upstate, so I can't guess where you are, nor can I guess the kind of antenna you use. Get a better antenna and the picture will just be bad due to bitrate. My dad lives on Cobbs hill and needs a minicsule antenna.

Right - correction made.

just lost cable tv but still have internet strangely...lost the standard cable(no box) in my bedroom and the hd dvr in the living room.

Does anybody know what TWC currently charges for a HD box because i was thinking about getting a second one for my den tv. On their site it says "up to 7.99" for just the box. For the remote it says "up to 0.50". I'm not sure if these prices are correct so hopefully somebody can help me out.

Why don't you just call them up and ask ? I believe that the prices you quoted are correct. They are trying to get me to come back to the fold. I may see what they have to offer me by the beginning of 2013. By then it will be time to play the which provider can give me the best service for the lowest price game once again.

Both my TW dvr and stb have lost their minds. They would not tune any hd channels. Rebooting gives a strange error and low number channels. Long wait in the tw chat queue.

Don't bother chatting. Time Warner has a major outage in this area according to Channel 13. We are online here in Webster ok. I have DirecTV, so no idea about whether cable TV in this area is affected.

http://www.13wham.com/news/local/sto...N0lxy8Uew.cspx

Me too. I have chatted with TW - that was a waste of time. I did manage to connect with someone to cancel my cable service. Their rates have been too high, and now, the service too poor. Goodbye TW, hello DirecTV/Earthlink/Oooma.

Dave. Do you need a D* referral ? Saves $100.

Does that work with a local dealer (Superior Satellite)? Last year I tried working with Dish on the Internet - that was a nightmare. This time I want to avoid subjecting myself to endless phone calls, etc. I figure that working with someone local (who also can answer ALL my questions) I can avoid that.

Of course, I suspect that TW my do something extra to retain me. I'm open to that but with today's outage they are not starting from a good place.

Funny, TW often uses rain-storm outages as an argument as to poor reliability with satellite! I had DirecTV many years ago, and NEVER had a problem due to rain (or anything else).

Well I am not sure about that. You could ask them. I would be more than happy to pm you my information. I had no troubles ordering through the 1-800 number and using the referral that someone gave me...even after I had placed the order.

I guess that if you decide to go with a local company to set it all up, you could tell them that you were referred by someone and see if they accept that. I currently am saving $20 a month from referrals. One expired. It is $10 a month for 10 months.

My deal is $45.99 a month for the first year. Whole house DVR with an hd box in my bedroom and the dvr in living room. $65.99 a month in year two. Choice Xtra package with Showtime free for a year.

I will tell you that D* will bend over backwards for your business and I was offered additional discounts when I called then to order.

Just checked and everything appears to be back up. Had no internet problems here, but most of the HD channels and some SD channels have been out since this morning. Pizza pans aren't without their problems either. I had no DirecTV service Monday afternoon into early Tuesday morning because of the snow. Being without something really does make you appreciate what you have. I've been suffering through watching The Universe on H2 in standard def since the HD leader', DirecTV does have this channel in HD. Now time to watch it in HD on cable.

Was your DirecTV issue due to the snow actually falling, or to accumulation on the Dish? When I previously had D*TV I had the dish mounted where I could clear off any snow.

But, my main motivation is that TW is ripping me off. Basically with Earthlink/D*TV/Ooma my bill in the 2nd year would be $148 ($106 initially) vs the "promotional" rate of $161 I am paying now (which expires next month). I see others have received MUCH better rates from TW ($102) from TW with better services (30Mbs RR, Whole house DVR, HBO, Showtime, TMC). The thing that I am most interested in is the new receiver with 5 tuners!!

On on my business neighbors ( a one personal psychologist office) has had Ooma for close to two years. She has had some pretty serious service issues (no phone service, no access to her voicemail) on a regular basis and their support has not been very good. That is just one customer with one experience set, but just a cautionary tale.

Thanks for your caution. My son-in-law in St. Paul, MN has the opposite experience. He switched from Vonage to Ooma about a year ago. No problems with it till a couple of weeks ago when lightening hit nearby. Took out the Ooma box. Their customer service was very good about sending him a new box. Took him 5 minutes to set the new box up.

Honestly I'm not sure, I didn't bother to go out and check. All of my satellite dishes are installed on the roof, but due to trees that grew since I got rid of DirecTV, the line of site was not there anymore, so while the new DirecTV Slimeline is on the roof, it's in a less then convenient location to sweep off then where the old DirecTV Phase 3 is mounted. I was watching some pre draft show on NFL Network when I got home from work Monday, the picture started to pixelate and break up and I got the Searching for Satellite message. Not all of the channels were out, but within an hour most were. Tuesday morning when I when I woke up at 3AM it was still out, when I got home from work, everything was back on. We didn't get much accumulation last week.

Having 5 tuners can definitely be useful, but the HR34 is more of a pain then anything. I do not like the user interface at all, the SD interface was better IMO. The ads in the EPG are intrusive and annoying, browsing the On Demand content can be cumbersome, and the HD selection is just not there, both with On Demand content and linear channels. I frequently get searching for satellite messages that pop across the screen for a brief second, on clear days and my signal strength across all five birds is great. Knock on wood, this happened in about a week now, but the receiver frequently tells me that my TV doesn't support 3D when I tune to a 3D channel, requiring me to do a red button reset.

95% of my recording and viewing is done on Time Warner. I do record a few shows on DirecTV. The 30 sec skip is nice, but has to be reprogrammed everytime you reboot, which for me is a few times a week, either due to not getting the 3D channels, or doing a CE software update. I did have an issue about a month ago, where all of my shows just stopped recording on DirecTV. I had to delete all of the timers and reprogram them in. Never had that with TW.

Dave, I sympathize with you about the monthly costs. With some of us with limited resources and mortgages to pay and kids in school, etc, , it really does boil down to money. I will someday bounce back to TW unless D* offers me a fantastic deal to stay with them. I know that TW will come through with a 2 or 3 year promo with a great price. On a side note...MagicJack combined with Google Voice continues to serve me well for a home phone. $29.95 a year.

Ive been using Magic Jack For The Past 3 years My self for home phone it really can't be beat

They did - I guess that I will stick with them for another 2yrs - unless they screw up (again).

Looks like TW actually did something good for once...They put the Fox Movie Channel back on the digital tier. They were so Greedy for making us pay extra for it...that's one of my fav channels that I didnt get too watch because it was bundled with crap.

Then Explain why my cable box still says Fox Movie Channel requires TWC Movie Pass.