Houston, TX - OTA - Page 104

I only tuned in for bits and pieces of the second half, but it looked good to me. Significantly better than last night's NFL game on Fox, in fact.

I think some of these football soundmixes take the 5.1 thing a little too far. Some ambience from the rear is fine, but when I can hear individual fans screaming their heads off out of one of the rear speakers, that's just annoying.

Odd. I have the ethos that if audio can come from the rear speakers, use them. I guess that it's all a personal matter of tastes. That means that this year, it's your turn to be happy with audio during the Super Bowl, and next year it'll be mine

So that may be my receiver then ?
The strange thing is that FOX is the ONLY channel I have blocks artefacts/freeze issues with,and that happens only sporadically.
I'm in the loop(Montrose area) and I have a strong signal otherwise,and my receiver works great normally.
Wonder what happened during the game,but at some point,it was truly unwatchable(a freeze a minute)

Anybody using D* having issues with audio from FOX. I don't know how to describe the probem, but I know it is the only channel I am having problems with. It sounds kind of like a bad cell phone connection at times.

I didn't see any dropouts. If you seem to have a strong signal maybe it could be a multi-path issue. It does seem my signal strength for KRIV is slightly less than for the other networks, but still well within the acceptable range and I don't have issues with dropouts from them (I'm in NW Houston, Beltway/West Rd area).

Something's wrong for sure. I certainly did not see any dropouts or problem with FOX. I'm in far West Houston (1½ mi SE of Clodine)

Robert, at your location are you able to receive FOX via OTA without using D*? I ask because what I've seen of D*'s MPEG-4 locals is disgraceful when it comes to action sports. So many compression artifacts that I just cannot bear to watch it from the satellite. Fortunately we're able to pull in all Houston local HD with a very small outdoor antenna.

We just moved to Kingwood from east Houston, and I didn't put an antenna up. I had OTA since 2002 and was tired of how my reception would change on the networks. It seemed like for a month, I'd get all stations fine, then I start having drops on 11 or 13. Fox would become unpredictable. The 2 would start up on me. I could never figure out what was causing the problems. I replaced RG-6, eliminated as many connections a possible, bought a new connector to my antenna, bought a rotor. I was sick of all that.

Maybe OTA has a better picture, but I love the reliability of D*.

I know the audio on 26 is a D* problem. I called yesterday and they said they are working on it. I had a picture problem on 26 a few weeks ago. I called D*. They said the same thing. The problem was fixed in about two days.

Does anyone know of a local (North of Houston) source for the Channel Master 4228 antenna? I see various on-line sources; however, the shipping costs seem a bit excessive and I'd prefer to drive someplace and bring one home rather than wait a week or more. TIA.

Maybe Fry's...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post9184857

Matt

I think Lowe's has it.

We just moved to Kingwood as well, from College Station. We are staying with friends until we close on our house. I hooked up a Winegard GS-2200 to a Samsung plasma our friends have (not sure of the model) and I am receiving 2, 11, 13, 20, 26, 39, and 55 without any problems at all. They live toward the back of Kingwood, in Sand Creek Village. My wife and I are buying a house in Oakhurst, and I am expecting great results there too when we get moved in.

Thanks. I'll check Fry's out. If the price is $39, that's a great deal.
Lowe's tells me they don't have the 4228, but do carry other models, like the 3016, etc.

Chances are that the 3016 will do better for channel 11 reception in 2009 than the CM 4228. An attic mount may be possible.

Picked up a tuner card for one of my PC's on the cheap. Surprisingly good quality HD picture off of it.

Can anybody suggest a good utility (shareware/freeware/demo) that will show me the bitrate/details/etc of what I'm receiving?

Geniatech a8000 card with Arcsoft TotalMedia 3 as the software package. No frills but neat to play with. I've also tried out the SnapStream demo.

Edit: Not much source material OTA during the afternoon, but here's a screen cap. Isn't it amazing that they can figure out HD distribution for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, but not Star Trek.

Try TSReader Lite at http://www.coolstf.com/
Rod does a good job with his product. I have both the regular and the pro versions at work that I use for working with MPEG files.

Bob Chase
KHCW-TV

Thanks Bob. That's way beyond my needs or abilities to understand 90% of...but I was able to dig out the info I wanted.

Finally got to see some HD locally produced news courtesy of 13's "SkyEye HD". Nice graphic for it. However, a night shot with lots of flashing lights wasn't the best subject matter.

Friday, Jan 12, 2007:

Hi guys. I just set up our set to receive OTA HD, but we're having some reception problems near downtown. I'd say we are about halfway between the medical center and downtown, on the ground floor.

I have tried four antennas, but currently have it set up with a Philips Silver Sensor and an RCA rabbit ears for KUHF. Reception on some channels is still spotty. Whenever a car passes, Fox starts stuttering. It's making it difficult to watch Chicago and Seattle right now. :P I tried an amplified Philips antenna from Wal Mart that my sister uses for HD reception out near 290 and Barker Cypress, but the reception wholly sucked for us.

After reading the OP of this thread, I'm thinking I should just return these two indoor antennas and get a Channel Master... I mean, after the two antennas and the combiner, it's actually cheaper to get the CM.

It sounds like we are very close to the OP's position. As long as the CM picks up KUHF it sounds like the perfect solution.

Found the CM4228 at the Frys @ SW Freeway - 59 - and W. Bellfort Ave (is that Stafford ?) today for $49.99 so brought one home. Appears the price jumped by $10, but still cheaper than what I found on-line and no added shipping costs, but had to pay the tax.

Now I just have to figure out how to hang it in the attic and snake the coax to the set.

WOF and Jeopardy are much higher rated shows than Star Trek. There's no technical reason why Star Trek couldn't be distributed in HD as it's the same company that would be doing it. There might be other reasons such as HD optical disc sales in the future. Nice screen cap.

Late in the summer there was a lot of press on the HD revamp of the original Star Trek series. When queried if we'd get to see that locally KTRK replied, "...they [Paramount] decided many stations could not receive an HD feed to make it feasible."

Still curious to see which local station will be the first to go HD for the news. Is KTRK in the lead with their helicopter?

HD Guru - what say you?

Latino tv coming to KPRC(this is a PostNewsweek decision not local IMO). Wonder which weather subchannel it will replace? This will make two carriers that offers substantial programming not affiliated with their network with KHWB being the other. I happen to like the "TUBE". KTRK has shown many "afternoon type movie" specials on its secondary channel along with public programming. My question is will this practice persist across the spectrum? Are other locals mulling similar actions. I realize that these channels serve a purpose in paying the bills. It is just that I point to my local OTA channels as examples of what HD can and should look like to others who visit my home. I also have other HD options to show but OTA is "free". With the perceived direction that locals are going, picture quality may be affected. New encoders cost money. Networks need such deals to raise money. Kind of like chicken and egg thing. KPRC has an older encoder that has raised much discussion on these boards. When will we see a solution that address' all concerns?

PS, I am not disparaging KHWB or other channels as I love their presentations of numerous programs including Reba, Smallville, and others.

Dominique Sachse announced the following on the KPRC "Local 2 News at 5 PM", today (January 16, 2007):

Post Newsweek stations, the owners of KPRC, have a deal with LATV (Latino Alternative TV) to provide programming on KPRC's digital subchannel. The bilingual music oriented programming targets 12-34 year olds. Stay tuned to KPRC for further details about when LATV will launch in Houston.

Thought folks living north of Houston (Kingwood specifically) might be interested in the results I've noted by installing a CM 4228. I was running a Terk TV5 which I had lying around the house on my Mits 57" DLP. Yesterday, I temporarily installed the CM 4228 (no preamp) in our "Texas Basement" (walk-in attic) on the second floor level, at about the same height as the Terk and maybe 35' away.

My average reception improved by 30% to 40%+, depending on the channel. The main improvement was a steady signal across the channels, with almost no noticable dropout ... and this was last night while we were seeing freezing rain conditions between here and the towers @ 208 degrees and about 40 miles away.

My TV does not have a true "signal strength" meter, just a bar graph marked off in 25% increments, so I can't provide exact numerical data.

My next step would be to move the CM 4228 to a permanent location in the real attic, which will give me another 20' in elevation, but that's a bigger job for a warmer day.

I'm wondering if locating it 20' higher and installing quad shield RG6U coax will yield enough improvement to warrant the effort, since the picture looks pretty good now --- I'm now getting signals in the 85% and higher range. Channel 8.1 comes in at about 75%.

Mounting the CM 4228 where I'd really like to see it would require installing some additional floorboards in the attic, hauling the extension ladder up thru the trap door, climbing up the ladder about 15' to hang the antenna from the rafters and then snaking the coax thru the wall. What think ye?

Chuck,

I'd help you out -- but I'm busy that day !! It sounds like a big job. 85 % is pretty good on most stations so I don't think you would see a vast improvement by moving the antenna any higher. Seems like a lot of work for possibly no improvement . My two cents.

Cheers,


Bill

Chuck: If it ain't broke....

If you are getting a steady signal with no dropouts, you really can not do any better with a digital signal. However, you may notice a change in the spring when the leaves return.

I wish I had the same option. I'm in a one-story KW house and have had a difficult time finding a spot in the attic where all the stations are steady.

Paul

Thanks for the responses, Guys.

At present, the antenna is "looking" (line of sight) through a brick exterior wall, some trees with leaves on them adjacent to my house in my front yard, and trees and the house across the street. The higher location would get it "looking" through my roof -- plywood and asphalt shingles, but still the tree tops and the house across the street.

I've attached a couple of shots -- Channel 8-1 and 11-1, (assuming I did it correctly) showing my current screen. I think I'm a happy camper, at least for now. Will see how things look after more trees leaf out.

Those two channels vanished about a month ago. What's up with that?