Huntsville, AL - HDTV - Page 52

Sorry to burst your bubble, but this means nothing. DISH and DirecTV have to convert their local receive facilities in order to pick up the local stations' digital broadcasts post-transition. In many markets, however, they just downconvert it back to 4X3 analog, claiming they don't have capacity to offer HD or local subchannels.

I haven't read the bill, but I know that stations like WAFF which are flash-cutting back to their analog channels cannot do it, nor can stations like WZDX with out of core analogs. I don't know what WHNT is doing either, they might flash-cut to 19 before moving to 46, in which case they also cannot do the "nightlight" slide.

That leaves 15, 25, and 31 in Huntsville, and I'd have to read the text of the bill to give you a better answer than that.

- Trip

I work for WHDF, and I know for a fact that stations are allowed (and urged to) put up a 'slide' on their analog for 30 days after the transition.

Of course, in WAFF's case, that's a different story.

EDIT:
And as of right now, per what the FCC told us last week, it's not just up to one station, all stations can do it.

Dude, there was no bubble to burst. I was just passing along a bit of information in reply to comments about SD local receive facilities. Dish already has HD locals here. Most people reading the last page or so of the thread are aware HD locals via DirecTV aren't imminent.

I'm sure this has been beaten to death, so I apologize in advance. I have Knology HD svc and the SA8300HD box to go along with my Samsung DLP. That all works fine. However, I just got a small LCD panel for the kitchen, and I was planning to just plug it directly into the cable outlet. I was aware that Knology passes the local HDs through unencrypted. When I did a channel scan last night, CBS/902, PBS/904, and FOX/905 showed up as expected. However, ABC showed up as 103-1, and there is no sign of local WAFF HD. Several other digital, non-HD channels showed up such as two PBS channels (something like 102-11 and 102-12). Can anyone explain what's going on? I'm particularly curious why NBC is not there, but I'm also wondering why the local HDs don't just show up as 901-905.

Thanks,
ph

For me, Knology's QAM channel numbers mapped to the 900s are hit and miss. On both of my Sharp LCDs and HDHomeRun, I get the following:

19-1 80.2
19-2 101.12
25-1 79.1
25-2 101.10
25-3 101.11
31-1 103.2
48-1 82.3
48-2 102.9
54-1 81.1
90.9 PPV Preview

What I have not found is where 25-4 and 54-2 are. Anyone know?

The cable companies put programming on a variety of odd frequencies, it happens with all of them.

Basically what you're seeing is the frequency the MSO (cable company) has put a particular station on (ie. 80-2). A cable box knows that frequency 80-2 is to be remapped to whatever "channel" number (ie. 902).

The best thing to do after a scan is go through all the frequencies, delete the ones you don't want, and name the one's you want to keep.

Wow, my first log in since 3/08! I'll try to answer your questions......

Yes, all digital channels that Knology processes from over-air sources locally are delivered to all customers non-encrypted. In my experience, some TVs will scan and map these to our virtual channel map (901-905 and the local SD's 133, 153, 154, 199 and I don't encrypt channel 200 which is ppv previews). Some TVs will not recognize a virtual channel map and label the channel as it's actual CATV channel and MPEG assignment. For instance, WHNTHD is actually on CATV channel 80, MPEG # 2. Some TVs will display this as 80.2. [i]SOME[i] TVs will display this as 80.1, being the first non-encrypted channel the TV recognizes on that channel. Most higher end TVs will recognize the virtual channel map generated for our converters and display the channel as 902. You may want to re-scan again and see if your set picks them up as virtual channels. I've seen it take a couple of times on some sets.

Now, your NBC issue could be either the need to rescan, or the possibility of a poor connection or a cable shielding problem. On Knology Cable in Huntsville/Madison/RSA WAFF's digital channel 903 is sent out on CATV channel 82, MPEG#2 (QAM256, 6MHZ channel centered at 573MHZ). If you have a poor connection, or a questionable cable, it's entirely possible that you have ingress overriding our QAM carrier. This is due to the fact that local channel 31's (WAAY TV) analog off-air carrier is a 6MHZ carrier centered at 575MHZ. They will overlap each other and your TV will not be able to tune in WAFF on CATV channel 82. I hope that makes sense...... This happened when my ex got a new digital set. She had a store made cable jumper and couldn't get WAFFDT. We ran her a new outlet where the TV went, connected it with a properly shielded cable and it works fine now.

I just did a rescan on my test set in the office without cable card or converter and I do pick up all non-encrypted channels with correct channel mapping.

Re-check when you get a chance and let me know how it turns out.

-g

Whats the deal with PBS? When HD first started they were the absolute best. Now they can't even show a picture format compatible with everybody else. Bars all around the picture. I have to use stretch to get a picture that is at least wide enough but still has bars on top and bottom. Its almost as bad as SD on the locals. What happened to them?

Budget cuts, reduced expenses by dropping their high-$$ HD programming, and nobody complained (or not loudly enough) back in July 2006 (I believe it was) when they turned off the HD stream. Remember when they had great musical programs w/Dolby-Digital, Car & Driver, and so many more!

Yes I remember when the started going down, I assumed they would eventually go back, but they never did. They could at least fix their format problems. I get better quality downloading internet programming on my tivo.

Has anyone been watching WHNT 19-1 and 19-2 the RTN network is ok with the old tv shows it shows but a few nights ago you could barely hear 19-1 but 19-2 was so loud all the audio was distorted.......and now the audio is ok except when they playback the RTN 19-2 promo and some of their comercials.

You'd think they would monitor the audio to make sure it was ok.

I don't know about the RTN shows Unreliable Resources (alpha/beta alpha/beta alpha/beta) and the other one( I forgot it's name) they kind of suck .....I'd rather watch 24 hrs of TMZ

Does anyone have the phone number to the engineering department at WHNT I want to talk to them the next time their audio goes berserk

19 is terrable for audio, even when they change from HD to SD to display, weather bullintens or local commercials the audio gets very loud.

What gets to me is when they play music with a news item or program, and, the music is louder than the speech.

And of course the volume increase when you tunethe channel!

If you catch programs the first time they are broadcast, you see them in glorious HD. The rebroadcasts are the one with the black bars.

I watch Nova every week and the first run eps are HD.

I guess they have the same problem as 19.1 they dont have a hd recorder. We are ready for HD but they are not.

Thanks

Odd today all day the audio on both 19.1 and 19.2 seemed to be at a reasonable level

It seems like there must be trade offs for them fixing their audio (if they did) the epg guide is missing even though 19.2 didn't really have any information previously

Digital tv is frustrating at the least....Until we can get the stations to tweak their equipment correctly

The commercials for Direct Buy were plenty loud. About 2x as loud as everything else. I have to mute the amp.

Call the station and ask for the programming director. Mention that you are a frequent viewer and politely discussion your complaint.

Yes you are right I just caught one of the weather promos fairly loud. I couldn't tell until just a few minutes ago I had been watching on my DTX9950 with a smaller stereo tv (9 inch) with small speakers. Normally I watch and listen on a DB-2010 thru a Sherwood receiver .....


Wow it's time to go to NBC and watch the Beijing olympic opening ceremony.... just kidding

Geez! I hope this isn't a sign of programming to come instead I think I'll turn to Nashville 4.2 and watch a little Telemundo

Thanks alot gcrawford. I scanned the channels again last night, and for whatever reason, the results are very different this time. Much like you described. I'm getting 133, 153, 154, 199, 200, and 901-905 . . . except 903/waff is still nowhere to be found. (I'm also getting 10 sub-channels on channel 89? 89-2, 89-3, 89-23, etc.) I know that the cable connecting the TV to the jack is a bit iffy on one end (loose fit to jack). So, I'll try a different cable.

ph

Got a better cable and now WAFFHD is showing up on 82-2 like you said. Thanks. Any idea why it won't show up on 903? It seems strange that my TV would recognize the virtual channel map for all other local network affiliates. However, I'm still getting a bunch of the digital channels as sub-channels of 89-x, such as ID and the Military channel, etc. So I guess those virtual channel maps aren't working either? I do get 133, 153, 154, and 199 mapped correctly on those Knology virtual channels.

ph

Many small stations can't monitor the DTV and analog signals both, so they just monitor the analog - - where 90% of the viewers are watching for now. It would be helpful if someone from the local stations could post the phone numbers for their master control rooms so that people watching the DTV signal could phone and report audio trouble or other issues, such as when the operator forgets to switch on HDTV.

I've had good luck calling their main number, speaking with the newsroom, and their passing it on...

Agree with Andrew, just call the main number, and ask for the newsroom or engineering.

Also, we monitor both our Digital and Analog.

Which station are you?

whdf

Taz,

Do you know anything about WYLE's application with the FCC to move the transmitter to WHDF's site in Minor Hill?

Can Huntsville OTA digital signals be picked up around Shoal Creek near Killen?
I tried an old outdoor UHF antenna that exists above roof level and can receive a digital Florence channel, but nothing from Huntsville.

If someone is receiving Huntsville OTA from the Florence/Killen area please let me know what equipment and how it is installed (indoor, outdoor, roof top, attic, etc.)

Tired of DirecTv and no HD locals!