Minneapolis, MN - OTA - Page 61

Sounds like you need the Dish Hopper which will record all 4 Big4 networks via one tuner.  :-)

Or an extra Tivo

That would be nice except I'm OTA only, even the 4 tuner Tivo is out since it's only for cable

Hats off to TPT! Last night marked the HD debut of Almanac, and I was pleasantly surprised with the presentation. I really didn't think the difference would be as dramatic as it was. They've clearly got fully HD capable equipment now, since they even produced new graphics/overlays, and at least some of the prerecorded segments appeared to be in HD as well. For those who are curious and missed it last night, it looks like it will be rebroadcast on 2-1 tomorrow at 9:30AM. Unfortunately, the other rebroadcasts are on 2-2, which obviously means they won't be in HD.

I was looking for a link to the Almanac survey on TPT's website (the survey is no longer available BTW) and I stumbled on this page with a link to a survey about a pending evaluation of the weather radar service on 2-4. Anyone who feels strongly one way or another may want to fill it out and give their two cents. Given how Weather Nation has rendered 11-2 nearly useless for my needs, I still value 2-4 as a backup OTA weather service. I just wish the time shown on the radar loop was in local time so it would be immediately clear exactly when it was last updated.

That only works during prime time (7-10)

 

True, but who wants to record a full afternoon of soaps? :)

I was transferring some recordings from my Tivo to my PC and decided to play around with a free utility called KMTTG that can convert the .TIVO files to standard .MPG files that can be played with any standard player. I noticed that a feature of this utility is to graph disk usage, and below the graph is a table of bitrates by channel. I'm guessing it looks at the data for existing recordings on the drive and averages them over time. If that's the case, I'm not sure how accurate the data is given historical changes in channel mapping and broadcast bitrate that could skew the long-term average. Here's the data from two Tivos listed by virtual channel number for those who are curious:

Tivo 1 (contains more recent recordings that are more likely to reflect current bitrates)
2-1 KTCADT 13.18Mbps 5.52GB/hour
2-2 KTCADT2 3.74Mbps 1.57GB/hour
2-3 KTCIDT3 13.75 Mbps 5.76GB/hour
4-1 WCCODT 16.64Mbps 6.97GB/hour
5-1 KSTPDT 9.31Mbps 3.90GB/hour
5.2 KSTCDT 10.49Mbps 4.40GB/hour
5.3 KSTCDT3 2.98Mbps 1.25GB/hour
5-4 KSTCDT2 3.11Mbps 1.30GB/hour
5-6 KSTCDT4 3.11Mbps 1.30Gb/hour
5-7 KSTPTDT2 2.48Mbps 1.04 GB/hour
9-1 KMSPDT 14.45Mbps 6.06GB/hour
11-1 KAREDT 14.77Mbps 6.19GB/hour
23-1 WUCWDT 14.47Mbps 6.06GB/hour
29-1 WFTCDT 12.69Mbps 5.32GB/hour
41-1 KPXMDT 12.24Mbps 5.13GB/hour

Tivo 2 (contains more older recordings that may be less likely to reflect current bitrates)
2-1 KTCADT 13.23 Mbps 5.54GB/hour
2-2 KTCADT2 5.03Mbps 2.11GB/hour
2-3 KTCIDT3 14.18 Mbps 5.94GB/hour
4-1 WCCODT 16.40Mbps 6.87GB/hour
5-1 KSTPDT 10.38Mbps 4.35GB/hour
5.2 KSTCDT 10.47Mbps 4.39GB/hour
5.3 KSTCDT3 3.02Mbps 1.27GB/hour
5-4 KSTCDT2.3.25Mbps 1.36GB/hour
5-6 KSTCDT4 2.89Mbps 1.21GB/hour
5-7 KSTPDT2 3.20Mbps 1.34Gb/hour
9-1 KMSPDT 14.69Mbps 6.16GB/hour
11-1 KAREDT 14.58Mbps 6.11GB/hour
11-2 KAREDT2 1.99Mbps 0.83GB/hour
23-1 WUCWDT 15.17Mbps 6.36GB/hour
29-1 WFTCDT 12.70Mbps 5.32GB/hour
41-1 KPXMDT 11.64Mbps 4.88GB/hour
41-3 KPXMDT3 2.93Mbps 1.23GB/hour

(if no recording exists from a channel, there is no data for that channel)

For anyone with a Tivo that wants to see what their data shows, KMTTG can be found here.

Interesting and about what I'd expect(and see for file sizes on my Tivo HD).
It's really pathetic what we get for HD on 5.1(ABC) it's even worse than 5.2(KSTC) and our other Hubbard channel(29.1) isn't much better
Kudos to 4.1 WCCO CBS, they along with 11.1 KARE NBC, 23.1 WUCW CW and even FOX with it's high bitrate 720p signal prove we have access to several decent HD channels in our market

Hubbard doesnt own 29. Fox does

Does anyone know of a financial, technical or other possible reason that TPT isn't just letting 2-3 air at full bitrate like WCCO?

There is that "mysterious" duplicate of the MN channel that shows up on 23-7 on some TV's...maybe thats why

WCCO has no channels

Thought of that late last night but didn't want to fire up the computer
Must be that Bounce channel(and also FOX SD mirror) taking up the extra bandwidth. Of course I never watch 29 anyway but my kids watch it enough for all of us(Big Bang and 2 1/2 men reruns ).
Speaking of oddities(yes I also get the MN on 23.7) is when I was playing with my Tivo HD the other day in signal strength mode I got KARE on channel 1.1 didn't even know their was a 1.1......Kind of fun playing in that mode with the Tivo(which disables all recording) it allows one to push CH UP and CH DOWN and get every channel available, whether it's in your list or not

Just a short rant...

It seems like the new trend is to keep adding useless junk to the screen. I for one want less junk, not more. Kare11 news has decided to add the most useless information bar to their newscasts; a story title. The infomration bar covers almost 25% of the bottom screen and is there thoughout the entire broadcast. Seems like someone is over producing. Do people really like this stuff? I for one hate it and will be switching to a different local news broadcast.

Less is better.


Edited by worachj - 1/26/13 at 8:36am

+1! It's all crap IMO, I've got a nice big screen not to fill it up with more junk but rather the main program I want to watch.
KARE must have been watching the pathetic KMSP(actually I like FOX9's news the best but I detest their OS graphics) KMSP has been doing the same only worse for quite some time.
Crap on the bottom, crap on the side and occasionally crap on crap! Pardon my rant too but you got me going on a real sore spot

for me its the 2 1/2 men reruns and Judge Joe Brown (since he got bumped off 9)
Havent seen that

And yes stations can map to 1-1...there is one in San Fran that maps to 1-1. Its also one of the most "crammed" bandwidth stations
KAXT-CD has TWELVE video and 4 audio channels on it

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=kaxt#station

to quote Chuck (Barkley)

TURRIBULL
JUST TURRIBULL

I turned it on last night and thought WTF is this crap? Am I watching ESPN?

and by the looks of it on their facebook page....we can agree. It looks bad

I don't usually watch KARE's news, but just watched the 6PM newscast to see what the fuss was about. I agree they've gone overboard, but I also have to say I really liked the live story timeline along the bottom of the screen that lets us know exactly what stories are coming up and in what order. No more constant vague teases about things coming "later in the newscast." I found it especially nice watching with a DVR, since it makes it easy to skip right to the stories of interest.

The other thing that caught my eye was how flat the new graphics are, especially during the weather forecast. For so long graphical displays seemed to be striving to give a sense of depth/dimensionality to them, but I thought these new graphics (much like the new Win8 Start interface) seem completely flat and bland.

FWIW I get the following with my Tivo HD in signal strength meter mode, I will only note the odd things:
1.1 KARE-HD Frequency 11 signal strength 95 no video
2.99 Test Frequency 23 signal strength 100 no video
9.3 Frequency 9 signal strength 93 no video
9.4 Frequency 9 signal strength 97 no video
17.2 KTCIDT2 Frequency 23 signal strength 100 no video
23.5 Frequency 23 signal strength 100 no video
23.7 Frequency 23 signal strength 100 no video
23.8 Frequency 23 signal strength 100 no video
23.9 Frequency 23 signal strength 100 no video
23.10 Frequency 23 signal strength 100 no video

I thiink I've accidentally found evidence that's exactly the cause. I just updated the software for my HD HomeRun Dual and while exploring the new software I found there's a window that can show real-time signal and channel info. As you can see in the picture below, UHF23 is shown to have four programs: two broadcast and two control. I clicked on the "7:0" and then clicked on the view button. Up came a duplicate of TPTMN as others have reported. Also note that according to the picture, this duplicate channel is broadcasting at 3.948Mbps.

So it would seem this is indeed our answer as to why TPT Life isn't at full bitrate, Hopefully someday this duplicate program will be removed and the main channel will be able to reach its full potential.



(Sorry for the duplicate post, but the picture was removed from my prior post and the only way I could find to re-add it in the message was to post the whole message again. I'll delete the old post to avoid any confusion.

Doesn't happen on my TivoHD. Entering 1-1 on the signal meter displays the strength of 2-1 (with proper number and frequency)

I still have 2-99 in my channel list from when they used it to run the holiday music videos. I can still enter the number, but of course they aren't broadcasting anything on it anymore, so all I get is a blank screen.

I've had these phantom channels appear in my channel list if reception of a channel has recently been flaky due to weather or other factors. They always show up in the Tivo's channel list with an asterisk and can be deleted by highlighting them and pressing the clear button on the remote.


This is permanently in the channel list due to an error on Tribune's part. Apparently there is a 17-2 that carries TPTMN on some satellite provider(s) . Tribune has it mapped to 23 so it shows a signal, but obviously there's no picture to display.

Interesting, I don't have to enter 1.1, I just access it by the channel up or down button, but only in the signal strength mode, when not in that mode it skips over 1.1
When you say you enter 1.1 and get 2.1's signal strength and frequency, does that mean you basically get channel 2.1 with 2.1's actual frequency displayed?
Do you get any of the upper 23's on your Tivo? wonder whats up with those......

When I manually enter 1-1 on the signal strength screen, the Tivo tunes 2-1 and displays "channel 2-1 KTCADT, Frequency 34" along with the reported signal. If I use channel up/down on the signal strength screen it just goes through the channels in my channel list (settings->channels->channel list). Since there's no 1-1 in my channel list, there's no way to display such a channel in the signal meter, either directly or via channel up/down.



I have had channels like the "upper 23s" appear in my channel list, but like I said in my previous post they only tend to show up as a glitch after the Tivo has had recent trouble tuning a station. For examply, problems receiving 41-1 often tend to cause a few erroneous 40-x channels to appear in the list. I've also had 9-3 and 9-4 appear after reception issues with 9-1. I just delete these erroneous channels and chalk them up to being a glitch/side effect of the Tivo dealing with a flaky signal.

Directv carries the MN channel on 17-2 (MPEG4 SD...need a HD box to view it). Dish does not

new subchannel coming to Fox 9 (and other Fox O&O's)

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/491563-Fox_O_Os_Weigel_Launch_Movies_Digi_Net.php

Fox Television Stations and Weigel Broadcasting are partnering on Movies!, a film-themed subchannel launching in 17 Fox-owned markets this spring. The network's aim is "to create a new destination for movie fans that is fan-friendly and available for free via over-the-air television, and in many cases via local cable carriage," said Fox in a statement.

Movies! will be available on Fox subchannels in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, Phoenix, Tampa, Minneapolis, Orlando, Austin, Memphis and Ocala.

The films will air 24 hours a day and will appear in a 16 by 9 format.

Looking at the rabbitears site it will be on 9-3 here. God forbid they get rid of the SD simulcast

9-3 is a guess.

- Trip

Maybe they'll get rid of the "My Network" simulcast that they use
(2nd channel on RF9 that maps to 29-2)

I get why KMSP programming is on RF29, with everyone (save KARE) on the UHF dial. I can't say I get why the inverse is happening, as Uncle mentions above. It does not serve much purpose to have WFTC on RF 9.

Other thought/question: what happened to the talk/speculation that MundoFox and/or AccuWeather was going to be added to 9/29?

WFTC and KMSP are owned by the same company. They have chosen to cross-carry their station's programming. Most likely, this has to do with the inherent problems of trying to get VHF with indoor antennas while, in rural areas, VHF can sometimes have an advantage, especially if the viewer already has a large, all-channel antenna. You'd have to ask them to find out for sure.

whats ironic is the SD version of 29 is in 480i full screen whereas 9-2 if its from the network its in postage stamp mode.