Columbus, OH - HDTV

I think I posted this wrong. I was supposed to reply??? in the Columbus thread??? Maybe someone can move this for me?

I need help and I am looking for either the right forum or some helpful people. I heard that the people at AVSforums were pros with this stuff.

Location:
Columbus, Ohio

My symptoms:
While watching certain progaming, most noticable on CSI (HD), it appears that the signal is lost during the quick screen changes.
Uhmmm.... how do I explain it. It's when during those scenes when the picture flashes and they show a cut scene usually of some body part, some action, etc. then the picture flashes back to the story line and characters.
What happens during these scenes is the picture goes blank and displays the projector resolution (1080i) then it flashes and the picture comes back. Everything is fine until another similar scene.
All other programing seems to be just fine.

Hardware:
I have a Scientific Atlanta HD8000 cable box with Time Warner service.
An X1 projector
I have a component connection to my reciever then component cables to BNC connectors to DB15 dongle which is plugged into the projector. (these are quality shielded cables)

How do I trouble shoot something like this? Is the resolution output changing at all? Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
The wife really liked the setup until CSI became a hassle to watch.
Thanks to anyone who replies.

odokid, I would first try with another projector, sounds like it can't sync on tp the signal. Can you borrow one ?

What is the range of the Columbus HD stations, can they be picked up OTA as far as Newark/Zanesville ?

i was watching abc digital i noticed white bars distinctavily in the shap of a / going across the screen. noticed it during rose bowl in hd and in sd an ad for local news. was really apprent in black background. anyone else notice anything similar? using a dish network 811 to recieve ota.

I'm thinking about getting an OTA box and antennae so that I can pick up up FOX HD and ABC HD. Does anyone have any experience with this in my zip code?

I'm running a LG 3100 OTA receiver with rabit ears (amplified) in the basement of my house in the 43017 zip code. Both FOX and ABC (and CBS, NBC, and PBS) come in just fine in HD.

how much did that cost you nortac?

Has anyone had any experience (good or bad) with a OTA US Digital HDTV Receiver in zip code 43016? I can get one at WallyMart for $199.

can I get FOX HD and ABC HD with Direct TV in the Columbus Ohio area?

I bought the LG 3100 for $350 in Dec of 2003.

It has since been replaced by the LG 4200 which adds NTSC tuning to ATSC and un-encrypted QAM. I think the LG 4200 retails for around $350 although LG prohibits legitimate LG retailers from listing prices on the web. I used monitoroutlet.com and had no complaints.

Regarding the US Digital tuner for $199 at Walmart, it seems like a good price point and low risk to buy it and try it. If you're not happy, it should be an easy return....

Anyone else having a problem picking up FOX 28 HDTV channel in the 43016 with an OTA antenna? I lost the picture about three weeks ago, and have a 100% signal. Wondering if its my tuner, or FOX shut the picture off.

What is the multicast status of the Big 4 networks in Columbus? We have a thread going in the Programming forum trying to pick the best market for OTA HD. The latest criteria we're using to narrow down the Top 10 is multicasting. For now, we're allowing a weather radar channel for 1080i networks (CBS, NBC) and we're allowing a weather radar and 1 SD channel for 720p networks (ABC, FOX). How does Columbus stack up?

I am having difficulty picking up WOSU thru my DiSH Network 811. My 6000 receiver in the other room picks it up fine. Anybody have issues with their 811 and WOSU?

Is Fox HD on-air with Dish on Columbus?

Thanks

Troy

Anybody?

Troy

Fox is up and running, I just bought and set-up a Sammy SIR-T351 tonight and Zenith Silver Sensor. Got one of the floor samples at Great Indoors for dirt cheap, gave me the wrong remote, but I can get over that.

I guess I didn't realize that NBC was vhf when I bought the Silver Star. What antenna are you using to pull your HD channels?

Thanks

Thanks.

Troy

BMWU

NBC (WCMH TV) is actually UHF, not VHF. WSYX is the only VHF in Columbus.

i also have a dish 811 and cant get wosu digital to come it, just stays at 49%. if you find a fix please pm me. did you try re scanning digital?

Hello fellow Columbus HDTV fans!

I'm very new to this arena and have been purchasing bits and pieces from eBay to dabble in HDTV. So far, so good but I have a few questions....

First, I've done all the research on antennaweb.org and all of the stations appear to require a yellow antenna for me. I've repeated this research on the other online "guides" and had very similar results. Therefore, I purchased a Samsung SIR-T151 on eBay for $100 and grabbed an open box Turk TV42 antenna at Best Buy for $35. I installed the antenna, added a diplexer inside, and had a great initial look at HDTV...

Now, having said that, here is my listing from antennaweb.org :

* yellow - uhf WTTE-DT 28.1 FOX COLUMBUS OH 271° 17.5 36
* yellow - vhf WSYX-DT 6.1 ABC COLUMBUS OH 271° 17.5 13
* yellow - uhf WOSU-DT 38.1 PBS COLUMBUS OH 325° 18.3 38
* yellow - uhf WCMH-DT 4.1 NBC COLUMBUS OH 279° 17.8 14
* yellow - uhf WBNS-DT 10.1 CBS COLUMBUS OH 279° 17.8 21
* green - uhf WWHO-DT 53.1 UPN CHILLICOTHE OH 228° 34.1 46

My review of these channels (during prime time on a clear night):

Fox 28 - have never seen a signal of any type or strength, never received audio

ABC 6 - I get flashes of HDTV images, no audio, and every time I tune to this channel my receiver seems to "lock up" and I can't do anything... after a few seconds, the "lock up" ceases for a few seconds and allows me to change channels

PBS 38 - Wow, 5 channels of HDTV some evenings - all with digital audio... comes in clear and strong - high signal strength. Earlier in the day, though, I often see no signal, no audio, nothing.

NBC 4 - One of my favorite stations and I typically see a strong signal. Two channels, one being the regular NBC programming and the other being a weather feed. Last night, however, I noticed some intermittant black screens and audio cutouts... not sure if it's a coincidence but it seemed to only happen when I walked into my kitchen - which sits just inside where the antenna is mounted to the DirecTV dish.

CBS 10 - Strong audio and video every time I've tuned to this channel. I wish I could say the same about each of the others.

UPN 53 - Great signal last night, no signal the night before. I don't watch much UPN programming so I'm not sure that I care much about this signal but thought I'd report my success/lack thereof.

As for my questions:

1. Do broadcasters send signals from their HDTV towers even when nothing is being broadcast in HDTV? It seems that CBS 10 does, and maybe NBC 4 - but the others seem to be hit and miss for me. The PBS 38 report above is a good example of this.

2. Is there anything I can do to boost my antenna? It's supposed to be amplified and most of the user reports I've read say that it's a decent unit... and as you can see, I'm not terribly far away from any of the towers and the terrain is very flat toward the west between my house and the towers.

3. My dish is mounted low on the back of the house facing west/southwest. Would this effect my antenna performace theoretically? It's possible for me to put a larger antenna in my attic or even mounted to the rear of the house at a higher level - but I'd rather use the current configuration.

4. How much difference do the HDTV receivers make? Since I bought a cheap unit used from eBay, could this hinder my ability to receive the signals or am I just doing without some of the bells & whistles of the higher cost units?

5. This question is a bit goofy but the receiver I bought came without a remote control. Are there cheap aftermarket remotes that I could pick up to program my nicer Sony programable remote? My Sony is older than the receiver I bought, thus it doesn't have any codes for HDTV receivers ...

Thanks for any and all replies!

I just put up a Weingard Square Shooter

I am less than 15 miles from NBC, ABC & CBS and it brings in a better signal that Direct TV is giving me.

I am also getting FOX, UPN and OSU (which sits at a 90 degree angle away from where the antenna is pointed).

Cost me $275 installed, but since Direct TV will not/cannot broadcast HD in my area, it's well worth it.

Hello.
I'm down in Ross County about 5 mi. SE of Chillicothe and I receive all the Columbus digitals quite well. The only exception being Pax DT 24 Newark- they must not yet be at full power?
I'm using a RS vhf/uhf ant (their largest model discontinued about 4yrs. ago) with a Winegard pre-amp and rotor mounted on roof about 30' above ground level. I'm also using a Samsung SIR-T165.
Regards,
Bruce

All of a sudden (as of Sunday AM) I am not getting an OTA signal from FOX WTTE.

Anyone else notice same???

The_lizard@wowway.com

a lot of great columbus information here!

Yep, down for three days. I've tried calling them:

Day 1. Called in and was transferred to engineering. Left voicemail, no response.

Day 2. Called in and was transferred to engineering. Guy who answered said, "Oh yeah, they're down there working on it now I think. It might be up today." Nice.

Later that night I e-mailed them asking if there was an ETA for perhaps sometime this month? And that they might want to act like a media company and post a notice on their WEBSITE since some of us don't even have analog tuners hooked up now...

Day 3. Still no response. Still no signal. Great.

If anyone else might be a little more privvy to info, please let us know.

Oh yeah, and just to throw in my info:

I have a Channel Master 3016 mounted on Channel Master's remote-controlled rotator in my attic. I live in a two-story house in a dense neighborhood very near one of Hilliard's high schools. I'm using a cheap Radio Shack pre-amp.

ATSC 13 (NTSC 6 ABC) comes in great.

ATSC 14 (NTSC 4 NBC) comes in great.

ATSC 21 (NTSC 10 CBS) comes in great (and glad to see they've fixed their audio-sync problems they had last year).

ATSC 36 (NTSC 28 FOX) sucks completely. They seem to have moved their transmitter last year too, so that complicates matters. I found it again, but it's still terrible. I can usually receive it on my VOOM receiver with the pre-amp turned on, or on my AccessDTV with the pre-amp turned off. Though either way with either receiver it's often jittery and the signal quality is awful.

ATSC 38 (NTSC 34? PBS) ROCKS the house! Multicasting and great signal. Love their HDTV programs too.

ATSC 46 (NTSC 53 UPN) Works will enough considering they're transmitting from Chillicothe (and still calling themselves Columbus, hehhe). I must use the pre-amp and I do have some problems with severe rain-fade during some bad storms.

The thing that ticks me off more than anything is that ALL STATIONS except ***PBS*** upconvert their SD programs to 720p or 1080i. This means my VOOM receiver can't tell the difference between an SD and HD program and therefore doesn't stretch the SD programs to prevent burn-in. How stupid. Are the network engineers just being lazy? Luckily I can use my AccessDTV card to manually stretch their stupid signals so I don't get burn-in on my TV worse than I already have. I've contemplated suing them for replacement tubes, especially Fox 28 since their dumbass bug (network logo) is super bright and never goes away (they always cover programs' own subtitles and graphics which is quite annoying) and now I have a permanent FOX28 logo on my screen. It serves as a great reminder of how much loathing I have for Sinclair Broadcasting. And of all the big money broadcasters, **PBS** is actually the only one transmitting their signals always correctly (and even multicasting!). That's unbelievable! Kudos to WOSU!

J

WTTE-DT is back up and broadcasting today.