Medford, OR - HDTV

I just got Medford, OR Charter High Def in July. No High Def locals come with the package.

Dish direct tv and Voom do NOT offer Hi def locals except through an intergration of an external antenna with your tuner box

A GOOD cable system that offers hi def locals will have then as PART OF THE BASIC (locals only $10 or less) package. They MAY need one to use thier box (an HD version of their Digital cable box)

Charter, Medford Oregon High Def package includes HDNet Movies, HDNet,
ESPNHD, HBOHD and Showtime HD. I hope that I'm not the only one in Medford, OR that has the package! I'm surprised that Medford, OR Charter has this package because of the city's small population. Maybe they want to go small before hitting the big cities.

Official Medford, OR thread

The only local HD channel added to Charter, Medford OR, is PBS. National channels added include TNT HD, Cinemax HD, Starz HD, The Movie Channel HD, and Discovery HD.

How is the picture quality for Charter in medford / Southern Oregon?

are the digital SD channels as good as the analog, or does it get blocky?

much thanks.

Tonight I was looking through my channels and noticed KDRV(ABC) listed as channel 780 in HiDef. I did some quick research and found an undated news article on their website that said the channel will be up in time for the Super Bowl on Sunday. I hope thats the case.

I have Charter in Grants Pass. ABC HD has had a problem ever since it showed up. Every 15 minutes or so it lets out a horrible scratchy sound. It did that for the Super Bowl and it still does it on Lost and other shows I like on ABC. I did a bunch of searches here and all over the web and wasn't able to come up with anything that sounded remotely similar. I talked to a gal from Charter who was pretty clueless.

Then I saw a Charter guy working across the street. He confirmed that everyone has been having a problem with it. He said something about a rush to get it up and running before it was ready. I'm just happy it's not my system. It's the only channel that does it. Hopefully they'll get a handle on it soon.

Can you get the movie channels in HD, & Discovery channel in HD through charter cable in Grants Pass too?

Does the sound persist if you use your TV's HD tuner for ABC instead of the Charter Digital box?

thanks

Yes. I get 12 HD channels through Charter. The sound issue only arose when they added ABC and then only on that channel.

Unfortunately I don't have a built-in HD tuner i.e, card so I don't get any terrestrials. Local folks say that they don't reach to here anyway so no biggie for the moment.

I think I have this resolved. Charter guy and another AVS member confirmed that the problem is local and should be fixed by summer's end.

Thanks for your concern.

I get it OTA and the noise pattern is there so it is clearly a KDRV problem.

Bump to avoid archiving.

Well we're way beyond summer's end and the problem is still there. It's tough since ABC has some pretty great HD material ala Lost and Boston Legal, though the latter seems to have degraded a bit in writing material this season.

Hopefully they get it fixed at least in time for the Super Bowl.

Is anyone getting the local HD channels in the clear via QAM via Charter? I just got a new tuner for my PC that tunes QAM and it seems that Charter is encrypting everything but the music channels and one In Demand preview channel. My TV also has a QAM tuner and I get the same channels -- no locals. It is my understanding that since they carry the analog versions of the locals unencrypted, they have to carry the digital/HD versions in the clear.

Also... is anyone having issues getting OTA HD for NBC (KOBI)? I've had intermittent problems getting a signal for months, and now it appears I can only get ~20 signal strength and it drops to zero every 2 seconds. All other locals are a solid 80+.

"It is my understanding that since they carry the analog versions of the locals unencrypted, they have to carry the digital/HD versions in the clear."

I can't get local HD channels via the QAM tuner in my Panasonic HDTV. It appears that Charter is encrypting these channels in the Medford, OR system. I'm not sure if encrypting these channels is correct per FCC guidelines. Also, I can't get NBC (KOBI) with OTA. However, I'm using an indoor antenna.

Thanks for the info... it's good to know that I'm not the only one having issues with KOBI. They seem to be pretty responsive to problems, so I'll give them a call on Tuesday. I'm using an indoor antennta as well, but all other channels come in great and I used to get 70+ signal strength on KOBI a couple of months ago.

I think I'll give Charter a call as well just to see what they say.

Well I called KOBI and they indicated that they are up and at 100% power. I still am not receiving a signal. I'm not sure what's changed from November, when I got a signal strength of around 68. For now I'll d/l the shows in HD after they've aired.

I almost forgot... I also called Charter. The guy had no clue what I was talking about and said I'd have to go down to my local office to discuss it with them.

I went into the local Charter office and spoke with a tech. He indicated that they do in fact encrypt the local HD channels.

Well... I filed a complaint against Charter with the FCC. I'll update here if I ever hear back.

Still no KOBI OTA reception...

Nice!

Did the FCC give you any impression that Charter may be in the wrong?

None of the complaint forms they had online were relevant to this issue, so I used the E-mail form instead. I haven't heard back yet, but it's only been two days.

Is anyone able to receive KOBI HD via OTA antenna? If so, what type? Thanks.

Bummer, we had Fox HD last week for a bit. 24 was great on Monday, but HD was gone for the 2nd half on Tuesday. That's all we need to complete the majors. I'm guessing it may have had bugs, or something. It worked great for me.

I was really hoping it would be back in time for the Bears/Pats game today. No such luck.

I guess at least it shows that it exists and probably should be up and running again before too long.

I am near Jackson Elementary and using an indoor antenna connected to a Sony XBR970 for OTA HD broadcasts.

PBS, comes in great, no issues whatsoever, Fox is next best with very little maneuvering needed to get a good steady picture. CBS has been fairly reliable, almost on a par with Fox. ABC can be hit or miss, sometimes I can spend 30 mins maneuvering the antenna and miss most of a show before I hit it, there seems to be no consistency either, other times I have no problems getting ABC OTA.

As for NBC, I have never been able to get the slightest sniff of a hit, I have even tried using my laptops HDTV in other parts of the house without any success.

Would an outdoor antenna help and does anyone know a company that would install them in the RV?

1. Yes

2. No

Good luck

Got an interesting reply from KOBI about reception issues:

We extend our sincerest apologies for the troubles. Yes, we have had
innumerable troubles this winter with our DTV causing us to often run
significantly reduced levels and with higher error rates than most receivers
can handle. Most recently, we found water ingress to the antenna and feed
line, which has caused extensive damage due to freezing, thawing, and RF
power applied. The entire system is being inspected and evaluated currently.
It is possible that it may have to be lifted down by a crane for repairs or
replacement. Winter access to the peak of King Mt. is already making this a
slow process and it will likely be at least a few more weeks before we
totally resolve these repairs and get up to full power. Thank you for your
interest and patience.