Detroit, MI - HDTV - Page 375

why would they even offer an SD version? It's not 2004 the programming all orginates in HD. Just makes no sense.

Uses far less bandwith on a channel that's probably not going to be that heavily watched.

Bright House will have it in both SD and HD (channels 571/671, if their published notice from last month holds true).

Where is the Pac-12 network on Comcast?

I thought the purpose of getting converting to digital was to free up bandwidth so there would be no need for SD.

No, it was to clear off a part of the spectrum so Congress could auction it off. Seriously, if SD were to go away, 480p wouldn't be included in the ATSC standard.

The reason for converting CABLE to all-digital is because you can get loads more channels, SD and HD on the frequencies previously occupied by analog channels. It also negates built-in cable tuners (clear QAM notwithstanding) forcing users to rent a box for an additional fee. Something the cable company has longed to restore ever since the first "cable ready" televisions and VCRs came out, IMHO.

Early Sunday amusement.

There's a blue screen on my TV with a message that says, "If you can see this message, the TV you're watching isn't yet ready for Comcast's digital network enhancements. Call 1.877.634.4434 to avoid service interruption"

I have Brighthouse cable.

The message is on BHN digital channel 95-6.

I'd love to know how that happened.

It's still there. I'm guessing whatever public access channel is feeding that forgot they're carried on more than one system.

Though it is amusing to look at. If it's still there, tomorrow, I'll cap it and send to BHN along with a panicked e-mail demanding something free. Stay tuned

NASCAR fans..
Due to the Lions' preseason game against Oakland, WXYZ-TV will move the Cup race in Bristol to 7.2 and then join the race in progress on 7.1 when the Detroit Lions preseason game ends.

Does anyone know if Comcast will be adding National Geographic Wild in HD in the Ann Arbor area? It's a much better channel than Nat Geo.

I just bought a house in Royal Oak, one of those little bungalows you see everywhere in the area. It has vinyl siding and a regular asphalt shingle roof. Looking in the attic, I don't see any foil insulation, etc.

I took my little portable LCD set inside, and even on the first floor, I was able to get the big stations (2, 4, 7, 20, 38, 50, 56, 62 and LP 18) with no problems via the built in whip antenna. CBET was a no show, as I figured with that whip antenna. I plan on, at the very least, installing an attic antenna for a little more reliability. I was wondering if anybody had success with any of the Toledo locals or WFUM via an attic antenna.

For the attic, I was thinking something like the old RadioShack VU90 full band antenna, which I am familiar with. Heck, I may just take the one from my current house in Holly. I also have an old CM 4221 on standby. Overall, I really don't want to climb the roof at this point. In the future, maybe. I am assuming a preamp to overcome cable length and splits may be a no-go due to the RF in the area.

Here is a TV Fool report based on the actual address: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9900c5dc537814

Thanks!

Bozzmonster:

I'm not far from you, and, from my experience, your VU90 in your attic should receive both CBET-9 and WFUM-28 just fine. Since they're in opposite directions, though, and also in different directions relative to most of the local Detroit stations, you'd need a rotator in your attic for that VU90, or at least a separate downlead and an A-B switch box at your tv, aiming the 4221 toward WFUM, and maybe adding something like a fixed Y5-7-13 on a channel 9 jointenna for CBET (can't get a channel 28 jointenna any more).

The VHF signals tend to not penetrate buildings quite as well as the UHF ones, so that's probably why CBET-9 was a no-show with your whip antenna.

For me, Toledo only comes in with a good rooftop antenna (I get WTOL-11, WTVG-13 and WGTE-29), but even then WUPW-46 and WNWO-49 are no-shows, probably because of their proximity to the local Detroit stations (many in the mid-40 channel numbers and now WPXD-Ion having moved to 50 from Southfield) and because (from my house) aiming for Toledo also aims exactly through the Detroit tower farm (your location might be a bit better than mine in that respect).

Thanks for the reply. It looks like per the TV Fool report that I would be only about 30 degrees or so off axis when aiming towards the Toledo locals and some of the strongest Detroit locals. Really, if I can get the Detroit locals along with WFUM and CBET, I would be happy. I know I am now living in 'RF Land' with all the local signals. Sadly, my days of FM DXing are likely over. I have a rotor and a preamp already, and the attic space is to the sides of living space upstairs. That means I can simply open an access from my bedroom closet, step right in and stand up in the attic. Can't ask for better than that! I can do a little experimentation with various pieces parts. Plus the previous owner left a lot of RG6 in place from a previous Comcast and DirectTV installation. The dish is still on the roof. Problem is the dish mount is on an addition on the back of the home, and the main roof structure blocks the signal to the direction of Toledo. That means a climb to the roof peak.

Bozzmonster, I too live in the 48067 zip code (my TV Fool map is exactly the same as yours) and I have to inform you that you'll probably not be able to pick-up CBET. I have a rooftop rotary antenna installed and have not been able to pick CBET up for years now. The antenna is attached to my chimney and it's around 30' up. I can pick-up every other channel except the Candian channels, even the crappy low power channels. I've tried every posistion with the rotor too. The only option I haven't tried is a pre-amp of some sort.

Several years ago CBET made some changes with their signal. And I've been without ever since.
Edited by mhufnagel - 8/24/12 at 9:46am

mhufnagel:

I'm maybe about 8 miles north of you, and I get both CBET-9 and CICO-32 at 85% with my attic antenna. Are the signal strengths of your local Detroit stations all up in the 80s and 90s (except for the low-powered ones maybe being in the 60s and 70s)? Wondering if you might either have a coax/connector problem or need an inline FM trap up at the antenna to filter out interference that might be preventing reception of the Windsor stations (and maybe even some others). You're probably too close to the Detroit towers (TV and FM) to use any kind of amplifier without overloading.

I'll check the signal strengths, but on my Sony (which has the best tuner in the house) I can receive WADL with my antenna while it's directly pointing to the Southfield stations. And I get all of those LP stations that are in the same direction as the Windsor stations when I point the antenna that way.

Bozzmonster:

While it's true that you'll get much more digital hash on adjacent FM stations in Royal Oak than in Holly, you can still do some decent FM dxing if you have a good radio. I have a Tecsun PL-606, and its DSP (digital signal processing) makes the radio very selective and substantially reduces noise, fully distinguishing stations 0.2 MHz apart without any bleedover (although nothing can overcome strong adjacent channel digital hash). 93.9 apparently does not broadcast digitally, allowing for reception of Grand Rapids on 93.7 and Jackson on 94.1 at night, plus other distant stations come in when conditions are favorable. Also at night, my PL-606 often receives stations clearly or semi-clearly on every channel between 88 and 92 (where there's apparently not much digital broadcasting), which none of my other radios can do.

http://www.amazon.com/Tecsun-PL-606-Digital-Portable-Shortwave/dp/B004Q21I4U
http://www.mediafire.com/?gcu6zgyxb724cy2

Well, that's encouraging on the FM side. I would love to tune in WKAR-FM East Lansing from that location, so maybe I might be able to do so outside of listening via the web. I have one of the Sony XDR-F1HD Tuners that can pull in the IBOC signals as well as an older Sanyo Plus T55 Tuner that is excellent on adjacent channel rejection.

Back to the DTV topic at hand, I have an FM filter that does a pretty good job that I'll experiment with. Our location might be a little difficult for CBET. Inside the house I can pick up WJBK with no issue with even the whip antenna folded away. So it appears I don't have an issue receiving a strong VHF DTV signal inside. According to the TV fool report, I am line of sight to CBET which is 25 miles away. Based on my experience with VHF reception, I probably will need to go outdoors to snag that one based on distance alone. I'll report on my success or lack thereof once I move in. Thanks all!

'

True, about VHF signals, but with a whip antenna attached directly to a portable digital TV, the enemy is often "autointerference" - the microprocessor in the set that decodes the digital signal generates RF energy - and is right next to the antenna, causing the TV to jam its own reception.
One wonders if one of those not-often-liked "saucer" omnidirectional antennas just might be the best thing in his situation?

Looks like WXYZ/Channel 7 has started letterboxing their SD feed on cable. Maybe a true 16:9 newscast is on the way?

Motor City team on "Amazing Race," this season: http://cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/the-amazing-race/video?watch=6bbh8sde7x

Odd given your screen name you didn't mention multipath. j/k Seriously, that water tower and those new mid-rise condos can't be helping. Or if he's having to shoot through our 200kw stick. Were it me, I'd get a really directional VHF (like I already have) and try aiming at Windsor. If that doesn't work, aim at the water tower

True, multipath could be a problem in Royal Oak, especially if one is near the water tower (I'm guessing you're referring to the Zoo), or the 13/Woodward area (with a high rise apartment east of the intersection and Beaumont Hospital to the west of it). But I didn't think of multipath as the problem as he was referring to channel 9 (the disadvantages of being on VHF DTV in an urban area are legion - but VHF is actually less susceptible to multipath than UHF.

Very true on that assessment. I am near the Gardenia (11 1/2 Mile Rd.) and Campbell area. No tall buildings or water towers nearby. However, there are a lot of trees and the homes are closely spaced together.

In a little additional testing, I was able to bring in CICO (RF 32) on the first floor of the house with my CM 4221 pointed towards Windsor. So, that makes me think I have a pretty clear shot to the Windsor towers. I have a feeling I'll have pretty good luck snagging WCMZ and CBET outdoors. I'm not overly worried about the Toledo locals. On the positive, it's almost impossible NOT to receive 2, 4, 7, 20, 31, 38, 50, 56 and 62 where I'm located. They come in happily with just a bowtie antenna. I grabbed the last three that RadioShack had on closeout last year at the Waterford store. I don't see them for sale anywhere nowadays.

I'm also going to see what I can pick up with the QAM tuner from WOW as I had internet and basic cable installed this weekend. So, I can definitely view CBET and WCMZ, just not in HD.

Detroit area (sort of) to get another OTA signal?

I was playing with TV Fool today, and was surprised to see WHTV, Jackson, MI (rf 34/virt 18) given a "yellow" grade. Well, I looked at the distance figure, which seemed to be obviously wrong, and checked the FCC website to see if it was correct.

Turns out, WHTV, as it is today, is nowhere near a Detroit area station - the TV Fool figures were for a recently GRANTED construction permit (more accurately, a fourth change to a construction permit) to move to an existing tower near Chelsea that has only been vacated this past week by WPXD Ann Arbor. WPXD, of course, was built in 1980 as an effort to "rim-shot" the Detroit area for its "It-TV" pay TV service, with a usable signal from about Greenfield Road westward.

On a very similar RF channel (34 vs. 31), and similar power, one would expect the coverage of a moved WHTV to almost perfectly replicate that of WPXD when it was on rf 31 from Chelsea.

One wrinkle is that WHTV is a My Network TV affiliate, and Detroit, of course, already has one in the form of WMYD. My guess is that WHTV thinks that with the performance of My Network to consider, they would be better off as an independent with a chunk of the #12 market than a My affiliate in the #111 market.

I thought that they may have been planning to use the existing antenna to output their rf on channel 34 (not necessarily impossible - some transmitting antennas can be used on many UHF channels), which would have allowed for a very quick upgrade. But I see the model number of the antenna specified in their CP is different than the antenna that was being used by WPXD.
Edited by itsthemultipath! - 9/2/12 at 6:11pm

The new projected contour is available at

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1506130&map=Y

It will still serve Lansing and have a good signal into Jackon, but will also have a signal into Detroit. With RF35 analog now gone, no co-channel to worry about.

Don't expect this to happen so fast though as it needs approval and I am sure WMYD won't be happy.

It's already been granted by the FCC.

- Trip

Anyone have Brighthouse Whole House DVR? Wondering what types of issues you are having?

Was excited to get this. The DVR's they had were pretty solid IMO. Was thinking I would have all that plus being able to watch/continue recordings in another room. Sweet.

Well I've had it for three weeks now. First thing I noticed right away is the clock is off by about 1:20 or so. Obviously this affects recording programs as I know have to remember to have them start two minutes early. I reported it to BH back on Aug 15, As of this writing it's still not resolved. Though I did get a personal call this past week saying it was still being worked on.

Other big issue is that sometime the swap tuner button acts as a last channel button. I reported this issue over the weekend. Very frustrating to try to watch two shows due to this.

There are quite a few other issues as well but figured I would start out with the time being off since that is most critical for a recording. Then as that got get resolved report another one instead of reporting everything all at once. Since that has been two weeks without being resolved I am considering switching back to the regular dvr boxes. As I feel this will be a growing pains sort of thing trying to get these resolved.

Anyone have any experiences good/bad?

Hmm...do you mean 'ON-TV'? I seem to remember heavy promotion in 80 or 81 for that OTA pay service. Don't remember anything about 'IT'. Or was it the same thing?