Minneapolis, MN - OTA - Page 44

Well, I'm settled in ND. The local CBS affiliate actually broadcasts local news in HD, and they do a pretty good job. The local University choir, along with community members, are presenting their annual performance of The Messiah (conducted by my Dad) KXMC (CBS) will air it in HD, which I think is pretty cool for a city of 42,000.

UGH! Channel 2 is really pissing me off

So I'm trying to watch the Bemidji State game on 2-2 (the MN channel). It is shows in 4x3 letterbox (black bars top and bottom) because its in SD. Look fine

The last 3 games now when the 2nd intermission comes they (KTCA) cut away from the Lakeland broadcast of the beg-a-thon to their own. When they go back to the game now the picture is stretched...like they hit the "stretch" button and it looks like crap. Still black bars on top and bottom but the "16:9 part" (the left and right of screen) is out of the screen.

UGH!

I've noticed that too. It's also disappointing that the games have poor picture quality. It's filmed in HD but I guess something gets lost on the way to the Minnesota channel.

If any of you hockey fans are on the east side of the Twin Cities you can see Wisconsin Badgers games on channel 28 , WHWC, out of Menominee, WI with a good outdoor antenna pointed east. It's on the Wisconsin channel 28.2

KTCA takes the HD feed and downconverts it to 480i widescreen. I've seen the HD feed from OTA when I'm up north and its stunning.

I hope they dont do it again....what I noticed is when the game is over they (KTCA) goes to their beg-a-thon then goes back for the wrapup and the pic is correct. (not uber stretched)

I wish...but being on the west side of the Metro I have to settle with getting KEYC Mankato instead

Really? With 6 subchannels, I've long thought of the picture quality on the HD feed of Lakeland Public TV to be poor-to-awful, with signs of bitstarving nearly all the time, even when all that is displayed on the screen is stationary text. But what's really disappointing is some improvement could be made if only the 2.5 Mbps SD simulcast of the HD feed were done away with and those bits given to the HD subchannel. That would raise the bitrate of the HD feed to 10.5-11.5 Mpbs or so without actually removing any channels of unique programming.

When I saw the games on Lakeland PBS it was a heckuva lot better than the MN channel version

While it isnt as stunning as say WCCO here in the cities it is much better than the sat version or the feed on MN channel. Stunning may be overdoing it but any hockey in HD is "stunning" to me

I do agree LPTV could do better with less channels (likie the SD simulcast and even that "encore" channel)

Yeah, I realize they drop it down to 480i but it looks worse than most other programs on 2.2. It almost looks like a slow internet stream.

and they did it AGAIN tonight

period 3 in stretch-o-vision letterbox

A banner on channel 2.99 (KTCA/KTCI) is announcing holiday programming starting December 19th.

post 1286, 1288 & 1289 had that info already

Yeah but that was way back on page 43

Hi folks..

I have a Silcondust HD Homerun hooked up to my basic cable. http://www.silicondust.com/products/models/hdhr3-us/

I then use Windows Media Center to schedule recordings and watch when I'd like.

The problem is the channels keep flopping around... so one moment I'm recording WCCO's HD signal... the next day, even though I'm scheduled to record another program on WCCO, it records KARE-11's WX channel or something else. I presume Comcast is just changing the physical channels around. I then rescan my channels and everything clears up -- until it changes again.

Can anybody explain why that happens and if I have a chance of preventing it?

Thanks!

-John
Minneapolis

This is exactly what is happening. Comcast would rather you pay them for consistent reception of the local channels in HD.

They will continue to change things around at will, and AFAIK there's nothing you can do except subscribe to the required digital tier and either use a Comcast DVR or a cable card with your PC.

On the other hand, you could also try to hook up an antenna to your HD Homerun and attempt to get reliable OTA reception without the monthly expense or the hassle of dealing with Comcast.

as of approx. 7:30am, 2.99 is on the air. w00t.

I'm not getting 2.99 now. I saw the test pattern a couple days ago, but "No Data" on my TV today. Re-scanned and it's gone. Was looking forward to Christmas programming!

It's coming in fine for me. Check your reception of 2-3. If you're getting that OK you should be getting 2-99 as well.

working fine here in the west metro. 100% on the HDTV, 94% on the DTVPal converter box

yes it is. My neighbor was able to scan it in...shows as 2-99

Minnesota/Wisconsin folk,

I was wondering if you had any thoughts about TV reception down near Red Wing, MN. Here is the TV Fool report for the location:


It's on top of a hill, and I'm willing to be creative about outdoor antennas, so hopefully I could get most of the main networks. TV Fool seems to think it's possible too, although I know it probably won't be as easy as the Minneapolis reception I'm accustomed to!

Any recommendations on an antenna to try for a start? Or maybe even to build? I'll keep browsing the forum for longer-range antenna ideas, but I thought I'd pop in here for a more local perspective too.

At 53 miles you're only 7 or 8 miles further than my cabin near Winsted. I have a ChannelMaster CM2018 antenna with a mast mounted CM7777 amplifier. The amplifier is the key. Before the amp, I only got 9 and 11, afterwards I got everything full strength.

With your extra distance, a CM2020 might be called for, but I would think you should be able to get all the Twin Cities channels without much concern.

Which ever antenna you choose (I'd recommend a Channel Master 4-bay) I think you should invest in a rotor. You should be able to receive not only the Twin Cities but also Eau Claire, WI and Rochester, MN markets. On good days the La Crosse market as well. I have friends that live in Ellsworth, WI (not far from Red Wing) and they get all the signals I mentioned plus some.

http://www.channelmaster.com/HD_tele...tenna_s/43.htm

I have the earlier version of the Channel Master 4228 in the attic above my garage. I am in Rosemount 55068. While I would not recommend an attic mount, it works great for me. The only VHF channels that I am interested in are 9 and 11. Both of those come in gang busters.

A rotor is certainly worth considering. An alternative to that might be if you wanted channels in just two directions. Some years back my folks had a farm in Moose Lake MN 55767. This was back in analog days, however. They already had a log periodic antenna pointed at Duluth and were getting the VHF channels from there okay. They were 3, 6, 8, and 10. I wanted to help them get channels from Shoreview towers, so I bought the most expensive antenna I could find in Duluth at the time. I did the install on a mast, added guy wires, etc. When it came time for the rotor, I did the math and determined that since I already had a working antenna pointed at Duluth and needed a new one for Minneapolis (Shoreview towers), I could just run both antennas simultaneously without bothering with a rotor. It was much simpler for my parents to use, since they didn't have to operate a rotor, nor did they have to worry about the rotor freezing, etc. Also, it was seamless, meaning they could tune 3, 6, 8 & 10 from Duluth and 2, 4, 5, 9 & 11 from Shoreview. Now, if you don't have any antennas now and want to get signal from multiple directions, then a rotor is the way to go. I just point out the dual fixed antenna is an option.

As long as I am "on the soapbox" I Want to stress the importance of good feedline. Use nothing less than RG-6, or better, at every point in your installation!

They finally got the bugs fixed. Logs now as K33LM-D
the audio issues have been fixed and the audio only channels are right now. They were on language 2 but are fixed
Also 2nd channel is now called Dare2Dream

In case anybody here in this market has been wondering about
Mobile DTV, I finally took the plunge yesterday and bought a Hauppauge WinTV-Aero-m USB TV stick. It is an interesting device. I plugged it into a USB port on my desktop and popped in a CD to install software. It was pretty straight forward. It even has the ability to enter your ZIP code to help find channels. It found most of the local ATSC channels and two ATSC-M/H channels. I have never watched ATSC-M/H before, so I was anxious just to see who and what was being broadcast. I only found two channels. They are KSTP's mobile channel and KARE's mobile channel. What I did find interesting is that KSTP's mobile channel is not the same programming as 005-1, but rather 005-4! I guess for whatever reason I just assumed that it would be the same as the main programming. The other channel was just dark. I suppose that means that KARE is planning on having something there eventually, but there was definitely nothing there yet. I am glad that I tried this, but I think this will be going back, since I have no need for it now.

KARE is probably already encrypted. Co-owned WXIA in Atlanta is.

- Trip

Whats the deal with ME TV and This TV on 5.3 and 5.4? The aspect ratio is all out of whack making it squished on the sides. None of the other sd subchannels look like that. Its even that way on Comcast clear QAM, so its apparently not limited to what we see over the air. Any ideas if and when there will be a fix?

That is how it is. Its in 16:9 widescreen. The issue is other than commercials (local ones) that are in HD everything else is BBH (black bar hell)

This has been like that since day 1 on ThisTV and now MeTV.

edit: 45-5 (the old 5-2) is the same way

If you mean "squished" as in deformed or misshaped, then you've got the aspect setting on your TV or set top box set incorrectly. All the content on METV is 4:3, so if it filled the screen on an HDTV it would be stretched or otherwise altered. Some of the content on ThisTV may be letterboxed, but the source that KSTP gets is likely still only 4:3, so they add the side bars so that the content displays in its original unaltered aspect ratio on a 16:9 screen.

If the content on 5-3 or 5-4 looks squished or distorted, try changing the aspect setting on your TV or set top box and see if one of them shows the stations properly. On a 16:9 set the proper setting is probably labeled something like full, native or "just scan," but different manufacturers use different terms.