Detroit, MI - HDTV - Page 379

No rotor. I'm aimed at Southfield with a 4221. Thanks though.

That exlains why you're not able to pull in WHTV....

Does anyone know if WHTV is still on the air from Chelsea? I haven't seen anything from them for four days.

Man this thread is slow

I'll give you that. On the plus side, it means nobody has a lot to complain about Think about it. We're in one of the few markets where we have TWO affiliates that are subchannel-free. Three if you count CBC. 4 with CW. Hell, more now that I think about it. A lot of us can get more than one market via OTA, We have some of the better cable systems (compared to some of the crap I see other cities going through) and we have fairly decent internet. When it comes to HDTV, we're not perfect, but better than most.

No, WHTV is back on their Okemos transmitter. They were having problems with the Chelsea transmitter, so I think that is why they went back to the Okemos site.

Thanks for the info. Hope they'll be moving back soon.

Why is being subchannel free such a good thing, that sounds like less programming options

It is. However, the addition of sub-channels takes away bandwidth from the primary feed and causes some loss of detail which leads those who like their HD as pristine as possible to grumble.

For the broadcasters it's a balancing act - you either add more content at lesser quality or less content at greater content. Either way, not everyone will be happy.

I already knew that was the answer, but I SO wanted Dr. Don to answer it.... Because.....

My follow up being:then why is it so great that your radio station has both a HD2 and a HD3 station, doesn't that also compromise quality....?
Dr Don is also very active on the HD radio portion of AVSforum

HD Radio does compromise quality on the AM band. But HD supporters always poo-poo that little tid-bit. I guess none of them are into DX'ing or clean AM signals.

I was referring to FM HD

Personally, I like AM HD, and there aren't additional sub channels like there are on FM

Well, in a nutshell, television is trying to cram 70 pounds of video into a five pound bag. Digital bandwidth for radio is a whole different beast. We're dealing with audio, which is a much smaller payload than HD video. Putting 2 CD-quality and one voice-quality audio streams into the allowable data pipe, when properly done, works out very well.Then you figure 90% of listening is in noisy cars by people who think multiplexed FM and compressed mp3s sound outstanding.

Of course, it depends on the source material. Ours is pretty darn good. We use a proprietary system that produces the same audio quality as we get off of the CD. Some stations save server space by compressing songs. Plus, we're country music. Yeah, it can sound great, but that's not as critical as, say, classical. Classical aficionados claim to have noticed when classical stations introduce a subchannel. I rather doubt anyone listening to us would notice. Our digital channel still sounds better than any FM, Satellite or mp3 you've ever heard. Most of the HD Radio stations in Detroit sound fantastic. But then, we're pickier as it's our stations the automakers sample when deciding whether or not to add the technology to automobiles, which is the make-or-break for HD Radio.

I can't speak to television's monetization of their subchannels, but they do seem to run plenty of spots. Our second channel is commercial free. Our third is ad supported, as is WOMC-HD3. Both turn a profit, though that's not terribly hard as operating expenses are rather low.

Dr. Don, thank you for the reply, I'll make sure to punch Art Vuolo in the face for New Years!!!!
Just kidding.....

Are you saying thAt your HD3 is Mexican mono?
I have a Yamaha receiver and when it's tuning into a hd2/3 station, there is no stereo/mono light, and not being familiar with that music, I have a tough time determining if its stereo or not

By the way, are all sub channels in Detroit 480i, or are any bumped up to 480p?

The signals are perfectly fine in the city of license, which was the whole idea. Yeah, I'm a DX-er, but 99.9% of a station's audience is local. Why AMs are reacting to a handful of people who live hundreds of miles away is beyond me. Sure, if you're trying to pick up a distant station at 960khz and you live in Monroe, the hash from WWJ's digital is going to make that impossible. But if you live in Monroe, you should be supporting your local stations, not one in Connecticut.

But that's just my opinion.

Sorry. We used to have Sky and moved it to WOMC. My mistake. I keep thinking it's still there.

Hey Doc, while I know it is not WYCD, but it is the CBS group--WWJ on HD2 on the Ticket seems to get cross talk of another station in the afternoon. I do not experience it in the morning. Any ideas?

Noticed that, myself. When I listened, it was the CBS radio network feed leaking into the audio. Should be gone once studio relocation is complete. Not a high priority this close to that happening. IOW, they know, but they're way too busy to fool with it given it's all getting ripped out shortly.

Look what started, HD radio talk on a HDTV thread........

Could always start a Detroit HD Radio thread in the HD Radio section.

Luckily, this thread is not known for complainers when it goes off topic a little. Of course, with two mods living here, maybe people are AFRAID to complain

Thanks Doc. I didn't hear it today, but usually I do, and it doesn't seem to be on the AM HD. We'll see how it goes once they move.

It's been some interesting reading on this thread. Usually is a little quiet. I like the earlier comment about the OTA HD environment here being much less problematic than in other markets. I thought that too in reading the threads in other markets. I theorize that one of the major plusses we had is the major signals in the market stayed on their chosen channels after the transition, so they had plenty of time to just fine tune their current plants while offering service with their analog signals until the cutoff. The one signal that flash cut to a different channel, WJBK had enough power to make their switch effective on VHF. Plus, the geography is rather flat around here and the major stations don't skimp on the radiated power. I chalk it up to good engineering. Give yourselves credit!

Have you had a chance to check out the new building yet? It's so nice!

Not yet. I was told I wasn't allowed in!

I get that a lot

If I was allowed in (I work at Amp) I'm sure you'd be allowed in too! I just told the receptionist who I was, and she let me wander around the building.

Ok here's a question for those with Comcast knowledge.

I want to use on-demand, and I have a TiVo. It's my understanding that the Tivo Premier works with on-demand in some markets. Anyone have any idea when this capability is coming to Comcast Detroit?

According to the TiVo site, it's already here. I don't believe that's true, but I will check when I get home later tonight.

Edit: Apparently it was just turned on today. I still haven't checked to be sure, though.

Nothing shows up here yet. Probably needs a software update from Tivo to enable it. I have noticed over the last few weeks they have been deleting a bunch of On Demand specific channels from the channel list.