Fort Smith, AR - HDTV - Page 3

I don't even use a cablecard. I just use the built-in ATSC tuner in my TV. I only have the very basic package that Cox offers. Currently, I get ABC, CBS, and ESPN in HD.

I can get PBS but I haven't seen any PBS programming in HD.

For any DirecTV subscribers: If you get your local HD channels OTA with a DirecTV/OTA receiver, you may have noticed that AETN's program listings have been incorrect for some time. The 2nd & 3rd sub channel listings were wrong in the guide supplied by D*.

Anyway, I contacted Tribune Media Services that supplies the guide to D* and this should be fixed by this weekend.

Good deal, I actually emailed AETN about if they even broadcast any HD programming since I have not seen anything on it. Do the HD programs show HD on the D* guide for those programs? I now have a schedule for what is coming up in HD for the next couple of months.

December:
14 th 7 pm INSIDE PASSAGE
18 th 7 pm NATURE "Encountering Sea Monsters"
21 st 7 pm GREAT PERFORMANCES "The Nightingale"
8 pm CHRISTMAS WITH THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR
9 pm ST. OLAF CHRISTMAS IN NORWAY
28 th 7 pm WINDOW TO THE SEA
29 th 9 pm WINDOW TO THE SEA

January:
3 rd 7 pm NOVA "The Mummy Who Would Be King"
4 th 7 pm WALKING THE BIBLE " Go Forth: From Creation to Abraham"
8 th 7 pm NATURE "Life in Death Valley"
11 th 7 pm WALKING THE BIBLE " A Coat of Many Colors: The Israelites in
Egypt"
17 th 7 pm NOVA "Deadly Ascent"
18 th 7 pm WALKING THE BIBLE "Toward the Promised Land: Forty Years in
the Desert"
8 pm WAR THAT MADE AMERICA " A Country Between Unlikely Allies"
22 th 7 pm NATURE "Oceans In Glass: Behind the Scenes of the Montery"
25 th 8 pm WAR THAT MADE AMERICA "Turning the Tide/ Unintended
Consequences"
30 th 9 pm CANTEEN SPIRIT

The guide has been fixed and all AETN subchannels show the correct programming. All PBS HD programs on AETN are on the "dash 1" sub channel. 2-1 in LR and 13-1 in Fayetteville. During HD, they usually turn off the other subchannels, to give the HD channel more bandwidth. HD programs on 13-1 show the [ HD ] icon in the DirecTV onscreen program guide.

FYI I got my channelmaster 4228 and CM7778 today... Its just pointed toward the direction of my old antenna and now i get KFSM-DT at 65-75% and still good signal on KHBS-DT 90-95% and The PBS 13-1 -4 stations are at 65-70%... Now Id be happy if I could find a Fox or NBC station with a little adjustment.

chrism101,

Which preamp did you actually get? In one post you said CM 7775 and another you said CM 7778. The CM 7777 would be a better choice than both of those. It has higher gain and lower noise.

The CM 7775 mentioned in your previous posts is UHF only.

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/Ant...TV_preamps.htm

The nearest full power FOX station to you is KLRT-DT in LR. Nearest full power NBC is KYTV-DT in Springfield, MO.

The CM7778 is what i recieved, I had decided the CM7775 would be all i need since the cm 4228 is UHF only antenna. But the People at Warren Electronics, said that it will pick up some VHF pretty well. So to go with a CM7778. I dont know why they didnt reccomend the CM7777, but the setup works well with the CM7778.

I just bolted it onto the mast and raised it up and got the channels i had atleast hoped to recieve, i havent adjusted the directionality yet other than just in the general direction.

Honestly though I only paid what the 7775 cost on my reciept so im guessing its just their way of getting an amplifier and antenna out the door since i already had a weeklong backorder on the antenna and they probably didnt want me waiting too long.

I guess the 7777 is obviously the best, but im not too concerned about the noise or signal since i havent even taken the time to run new RG6. Im still using some 15 yr old coax that is probably 50 ft too long.

Maybe this weekend Ill move things around a bit and see what comes in.

Warren electronics is partially right. It will pick up highband VHF (channels 7-13) pretty well, and AETN KAFT-DT happens to be in that band. So it's a good thing you also got a VHF+UHF preamp instead of the UHF-only 7775, as KAFT-DT isn't full power yet, and may not be for a while.

arxaw- In regards to your post in the H20 forum about losing the HD-DNS, did the receiver try to find them in MPEG 4 format, or was it the new activation wiped them out with lil now being available and the new rules surrounding it? I am thinking about getting a H20 and moving the TS-160, but don't want to mess up my locals. I moved to NYC to avoid the DNS charges back in the day and don't want to have issues since they are now in mpeg 4 also...

Just checked the D* eligibility site, and they now show my address as available for Fox HD, where before it only showed CBS (which I get) Just an FYI to all of you that want Fox, it may be worth a shot to look into again! Still lists NBC digital as grade A reception, but I don't know how that's possible! I'd move home again if I could get that in HD now that football is done.

nj829,

It's the activation and account update that knocked them out. I know this because the HD-DNS channels were removed on my other HD box (samsung) during the H20 activation.

If your D* service address is in any O&O market that now has MPEG4 LIL available, D* no longer offers HD-DNS . So you *may* lose those channels when you activate an H20. Check with other posters in MPEG4 markets to be sure.

You could always try activating an H20 and if you lose the channels, "move" to a DNS-only address in Ark.

Just found this thread today on the forums. Was wondering if anyone has contact info for both Fox and NBC stations in NW Ark/Ft. Smith? If so, we should all contact them to let them know we want HD in NW Arkansas on these stations. Public pressure might help move things along. Please post any updated info on these stations, when they plan to air in HD, and who we should email?

Last I heard was that Fox was waiting on the FCC for permission to broadcast and NBC was planning to start airing HD sometime after Jan. 1, 2006.

I had emailed KNWA engineering a while back and he said they were still waiting on some FCC approval and contracting some tower maintenance before they would be moving foward. I went to the KNWA website and clicked on the contact us and found an engineer. As for Fox, I have no clue on that status, and haven't been able to find a contact for that. I haven't looked real hard either though...

You can email the engineer at KNWA by visiting their main web site at knwa(dot)com and click on the link to "About KNWA" then click on the link to Email Engineering.

Let me know if any of you hear any updates on when NBC goes Digital in NW Arkansas. I have emailed him 3 times over the past 12 months and have yet to hear something definite.

I guess KHOG-DT is asleep at the HD switch again. The rose parade is supposed to be in HD, but is only SD on 29-1.

I heard today on Fox that they will be carrying the BCS games in '07.

Between that and NBC getting NFL games, I guess NWA is basically done with football in HD.

I really wish DirecTV was able to offer an exemption to customers that lived in inept markets such as ours, such that we could get a national Fox and NBC HD feed.

The gentleman from the local Fox affiliate was nice enough, but he couldn't give me any information as to when to expect a digital signal from KPBI. Said they were waiting on the FCC to allow them to clearance to broadcast both a SD and HD signal.

wed0420,
Many addresses qualify for HD Networks via DirecTV. Have you checked your address at:
http://directvdnseligibility.decisio...dressForm.aspx

[edit:]
I just received an email from a friend who was told by knwa/kfta's general manager it will be 3rd Q of 06 before they get NBC HDTV on the air.

Thanks for the link!

I knew that in some instances (very rural areas) that DirecTV would allow for out of area SD networks, but I wasn't aware that this was available for HD.

I live in Fayetteville, so when I entered my information into the page you provided, it told me that I was eligible for HD Fox and HD CBS, but that I was getting a strong signal from KHBS (true, ABC) and KFTA (not true, as those call letters look to be the old Ft. Smith version of KNWA).

The DirecTV HD DNS (DistantNetworkService) qualification site is fairly new. The results are based on a Longley-Rice prediction of reception and are not always accurate. However, the results are what DirecTV must use to give you DNS-HD channels. If you have the locals options or the DirecTV HD package, DirecTV will add the FOX & CBS New York channels at no additional monthly charge. But you have to call and request that they add them. WCBS-DT is on D* channel 80 and WNYW-DT (FOX) is on channel 88.
Call 800 DIRECTV and ask for an HD Specialist to add HD-DNS.

KFTA is on channel 24 and they are the same as KNWA 51 - it's similar to 40/29... KFTA's tower is in Winslow, according to the FCC. I can receive both KFTA 24 and KNWA 51 analog stations, but not digital.

Heard from the KNWA Engineer today:

"Sorry, no date yet. We are currently working on our tower to strengthen
it to accomodate a larger antenna."

So it looks like another long wait until we see something from NBC.

WED0240 - you stated the FOX station was going to broadcast the BCS games next bowl season, right? Does this imply they plan to switch to HD by then? Or is this just wishful thinking? Just wondering.

Wishful thinking.

I'm disgusted that Fox keeps getting all of the big name sporting events (last year's Super Bowl, this fall's World Series, next year's BCS games), yet we're forced to watch a channel that looks like it's broadcast through a snowglobe.

As a network, I've got nothing against Rupert Murdoch and his ilk, but, as a local station, KPBI has to be among the worst in the country. Perhaps the worst amongst 3rd world countries.

I'm trying to figure all this out. I live in Fayetteville and I want to know if I have the ability to get all 4 major networks in HD. I don't care how it's done, just want to know if it's possible.

I know I can't with Cox, but is it possible with a satellite?

see edit in post #77 above.

Should have watched the Rose Parade on Discovery HD. Wow. Anyway, one would think in market 104, and one of the fastest growing areas of the country, Cox, KNWA, and our local FOX and WB and UPN stations would wake up and notice the population boom here. When I watch a network show it's either KHOG or KFSM HD channels, I only watch KNWA for their morning show because Dana Sergeant is cute. We shouldn't have to wait another 10 years to catch up with other metropolitan areas.

I think KNWA is going to do HD, as they are changing their entire focus to NW Arkansas vs. the river valley, and will want to say to the local advertisers that they are a top notch station as well. I read yesterday that the local relocation is around 1,000 ppl per month right now to the market, so it's definitley growing quickly. KNWA has spent alot recently in their move to Pinnacle, and I am sure that they wanted to spend it on market positioning before what many stations feel is just added cost with no return on investment. I don't even watch KNWA as it's so dang snowy, and I get the Joplin NBC almost perfectly (analog only) so I don't even bother with them until they get digital going.

I get KHOG and KFSM digital with no problems here in the Harrison area. It would be nice to see a digital stream from KNWA as well.

Without an antenna, I am restricted to watching Springfield locals on DirecTV even though the local cable company gets both Springfield and Little Rock.....

Never have understood why local cable gets LR instead of Fayetteville. It is 62 miles to FAY and 140 to LR.......

nj829,
IMO, KNWA's news is tabloid style. Too many moving flashy distracting graphics and crawls. I only watch it as a last resort, when other local news has been delayed by sports, etc.

Also, I avoid analog tv whenever possible.

Good, I am glad I am not missing anything from KNWA! About the only time the locals get watched here is the KFSM news re-broadcast on 5-2. Otherwise it's the DNS on D*, unless it's CSI, and then I'll watch that on OTA HD since it's a bit nicer on the eyes. Can't think of anything on ABC that we watch now that MNF and college ball is done. Not a Lost Housewife fan.

Hey ARXAW,

I went to the Directv webpage as you directed. It showed that I was eligible for the Fox DNS. I talked to the HD specialist, and he was unable to help me. He said that his screen showed that I was ineligible and added that our local Fox would not accept any waivers. Gosh, I wish it would have worked. I'm sick of watching sports on our Fox.

Ask to speak to the HD specialist supervisor and have the supervisor enter your address at this link: