Youngstown, OH - HDTV - Page 57

AFAIK, 27-1 has been in 5.1 for some time. I remember hearing that it was in 5.1 before WOIO CBS was in 5.1.

27.2 would be 2 channel only because it was SD. Now that FOX HD is carried on 27.2, it should be in 5.1. All FOX affiliates have 5.1 audio because of the FOX splicer system.

The data I had (and still have) shows 27-2 in DD2.0 only, despite 720p video.

- Trip

Well a couple things that TWC will never be able to touch in YEARS is a) A 500GB DVR (Probably equivalent to 800GB or more for TWC comparing Mpeg2 and Mpeg4 efficiency. As it is I already have probably close to 15-20hrs in total of HD recorded and only using maybe 1/5 of the disk space), and actual supported external storage and using any usb hard disk you have. Even if SDV is actually being fixed, switching to Dish was inevitable. Next thing you know TWC's going to throw another wrench into the works to alienate their customers.

FWIW (and back on topic) the main reasoning for me wanting access to the cleveland stations is because at least for WKYC they don't kill the PQ during primetime programming to show various pieces of graphics. And this used to be quite a regular thing with WFMJ with the lottery numbers being thrown up in the middle of a program.

Even with FOX network programming? One of the few benefits of the FOX splicer is supposed to be built in 5.1 surround for all stations. If they're passing 2 channel sound during network programming that must mean they're overriding the splicer somehow. I'm interested to know what's going on at WKBN.

I don't think any stations doing dual HD are passing the splicer stuff straight through untouched.

- Trip

That's it? SRSLY? That never bother me. I'm more bothered by the useless crap the Cleveland stations put on screen. Once you give these TV station people the ability to insert crap over the HD picture, they abuse it. WEWS is the worst, they had a weather map running all night last night. They also put ads for ABC programming over syndicated shows. WKYC is pretty bad too, they feel the need to plaster their own bug on the screen after every commercial.

FWIW, WFMJ does a horrible job with the lotto numbers. I remember seeing them on 21, they would put the numbers in huge white balls. Surprisingly WEWS is less obtrusive with the lotto numbers. Go figure!

This conversion to 5.1 surround on 27.2 must have happened relatively recently. There was a comment on this thread back at the end of October from someone who was dissatisfied about the lack of 5.1 surround sound. I very well may be wrong about 27.1 because I really have no reason to pay attention to that sort of stuff. I have no equipment that provides 5.1 surround. I just so happen to have a converter box that tells me it's there.

I noticed 27-2 in 5.1 two weeks ago, before that the audio was horrible.

To key over an HD signal would require new equipment. WFMJ is likely switching to the raw HD network feed when NBC is broadcasting and using their old analog master control for everything else. To locally key in over HD would either require a total overhaul of master control or a downstream keyer. Both would be a significant capital expense for the station.

WFMJ hopes to have their HD Master Control finished by the end of February.

I noticed the same thing in regards to WKBN's audio quality. They were running the audio compression pretty hard on both channels, and they have recently lightened it up a bit. I will agree that it now sounds better, although I didn't mind the way things were. I do have some hearing loss, so audio compression helps me out quite a bit.

In regards to WFMJ, I thought I heard some blurbs that they were contemplating running dual HD in the future like WKBN. Am I right, or am I washed up on this one?

That would be awesome even though I don't watch the WB channel for anything. But I am kinda skeptical of seeing it happen unless they have managed to come across a good statmuxing encoder for a song and in which case I hope it is good and is firmware upgradeable. But by all means if they can manage it and keep the quality up on par or better than WKBN's, they have a thumbs up from me.

On a side note I did another scan earlier this evening on my Dish OTA tuner. I managed to add WJW to my distant stations in addition to WKYC. Right now both are sitting around 55-60% signal which is enough to get a picture with little bits of regular macroblocking in the picture. May have to actually get around to getting the rotor working and aim better for cleveland and see how it does.

Hi everyone, I love reading all the local info here and finally learning how everything appears to work in this area. Anyway, I'm getting sick of dealing with Time Warner who seems to be content with enjoying their monopoly rather than even attempting to innovate. My biggest pet peeve however is even if they get agreements to carry new HD channels, I have to wait until our wonderful little region decides to carry them.

Anyway, I'm looking into DirecTV and see that there's no local HD Fox. I read that this isn't possible since they only feed through fiber through TW (not a surprise coming from this area). Anyway, currently with TW I receive the cleveland Fox feed too. Is it possible to get *any* HD fox station? That's pretty crappy to be stuck with SD-only fox, especially for sports. Thanks for your help.

I gather that you live somewhere in or around Youngstown if you're posting your message here ;-) You can always use the OTA signal to get Fox HD. WKBN is running a dual HD feed for both CBS and Fox. I live about 40 air miles from the TV station and I have little trouble picking up the station with just a simple antenna. If you live less than 40 miles from Youngstown, then you may be able to get away with a set of rabbit ears.

Yep. That's pretty much the only way. I'm with Dish myself and out of the locals I get off the sat of 21, 27, 33, 45, and 62, only 27 and 33 are in HD (and the SD's have HORRIBLE PQ). I don't know the status of Direc's offerings in this area however. But I just went and bought the extra OTA module for my DVR and get an extra 2 tuners as a bonus on top of getting all the locals in HD and the ability to grab out of market locals, reception permitting.

I don't know why the satcasters couldn't pick up WYFX HD OTA and put that up in their HD locals. I presume if they're carrying WKBN, they already have the rights, and it's the same signal.

The big question now is how WKBN's signal will look Sunday night for the Super Bowl. The last few playoff games have had a TON of signal errors both OTA and through Comcast cable. They are happening in the same locations in the broadcast (I recorded both to make sure) so it seems like technical issue at the station.

Hopefully Sunday night goes off without a hitch. NO LOTTO NUMBERS LIKE WFMJ LAST YEAR PLEASE!!

What is up with 21 WFMJ's signal dropping off the last few days especially in the evening? It drops into the 60s and then to 0 and then back up into the 70s then sometimes in the 80s then back into the 60s and off again and again and again. My signal is usually 92 or 93 all the time and now I get that in the morning only, but not all the time. The other morning it was off and on, off and on all morning. It is going off and on right now as I type this. When it is acting like this and it is on the signal is varying a lot it jumps all over the place real quickly from 75 to 83 from 75 to 68. The signal should never vary that much that quickly. I am getting sick of this problem. It did this last year about 6 months ago or longer and then has been fine for months until now. It has been like this now for about 4 or 5 days. What is going on with 21 WFMJ's signal? I think they have a piece of equipment failing and don't even know it. This is definitely not normal signal loss. It is something with the station's output because all of my other local channels are fine.

I haven't noticed any changes here as far as 21 is concerned. They and the others get spotty from time to time because I don't have my antenna aimed directly at Youngstown. Is the same erratic signal happening with different antenna setups and/or locations? I think sometimes that multipath causes this. From what I understand, 8VSB signals don't like multipath. It's the only explanation I can come up with since I can only get some stations when the weather is crummy.

I see 21 is doing HD crawls today... something new?

We rigged up some of our new equipment until the master control is finished which should be by April. There will still be times when we have to switch back to SD for graphics.

We do not have plans at this time to do dual HD channels. WBCB will remain SD on 21-2.

There are no problems with our transmitter. Any signal droputs have to be something else.

Thank you. Thank you. You are the best.

I also noticed the school closing crawls in 16:9 too for the first time on 21. By the way, thanks for the answer about channel 21-2.

I have also noticed that 33 has been coming in stronger than usual. Maybe they finally lit up their 1MW transmitter? I didn't see any kind of recent filing with the FCC indicating that they were testing the CP station, assignment of license, etc. Is this step necessary, or can they just light up the CP station without further notice?

Today's the big day. Will WKBN bombard us with school closings and bingo cancellations during the broadcast tonight?

Great broadcast WKBN. Best NFL broadcast of the year. No dropouts, no glitches, PQ stayed strong until the confetti drop. Kudos.

to TV21CHIEF, do you have any idea when dish network will broadcast 21 in hd for the locals?

Does anyone in the Youngstown/Warren area know if the local branches have the Cisco (new 8640?) or Samsung HD DVRs? I want to get rid of the 8300hdc

I have no problem with 21 OTA. It must be end user equipment.

Unproductive posts removed.

Repost...anyone know if anywhere in this area carries the Samsung or new Cisco boxes?