Dallas, TX - HDTV - Page 9

Any word on when they will switch to 720p? They are the only ABC affiliate that transmits 1080i (converted from ABC's 720p feed). 720p would be a lot less susceptible to the reduced bit rate necessary for these additional sub channels.

Xesdeeni

I myself lost 8.1 and 8.2 starting last Monday. I thought the Amp went out, but I bought a new amp today and I still can't get these channels.
Also the signal isn't as strong is it was before on other OTA stations.

I have a HD-TIVO unit and I can't figure out if something is wrong with the unit now OR something else. It's 3 months old...

Anybody just start losing 8.1 this week OR know of a reason why I would have starting losing it this week.

Thanks in advance

I doubt they will. They are owned by Belo who also owns a CBS affliliate in Houston. They made the decision to go 1080i with all their stations.

I just got my HD setup last Friady and have NEVER got 8.1. I'm still trying...must have MNF. I originally had a UHF only antenna (DB4), so I guess I'm not surprised I didn't get WFAA (which is VHF). I've got a new VHF/UHF combo antenna from Radio Shack that I'm going to try. If that doesn't work....I give up.

Please post your results. I am using an antenna that installed years ago. Maybe it needs to be updated.
Would you know if ABC might have recently changed from UHF or VHF?
Thing I will search on that...

FYI - I'm in North Plano, I have a friend in Allen that states he gets all channels, but I also read a posting from others in Allen that couldn't get ABC.

Same here on MNF!!!

Good luck in your setup...

Could this explain why I have lost 8-1 and 8-2 starting this week???

I so, any suggessed solutions?

In plano with old Attic Antenna. I have read about the VHF issue, maybe that is my problem also, but would explain lossing it this week I don't think..

Maybe. Try having your receiver rescan.

I was at a home in McKinney with a standard Radio Shack 100 mile antenna in the attic with no amplification and it pulled in everything. It can be done.

WFAA has not moved. It is still on channel 9 (VHF).

Thanks for the suggestion, but it didn't help

Still getting only about 15-20 % on the signal meter on 8.1 and no signal message on display

Still no 8.1 with Radio shack antenna. However, I was just propping it up on the upstairs landing for now. My other UHF antenna (outside) gets 16 channels (including 27.1), but no ABC. I did not try the Radio Shack VHF/UHF outside yet since its rainnig, but that will be my last attempt. I'm going to try mounting it on the same pole as my UHF antenna...and if that doesn't work, then I guess nothing will.

I understand WFAA is VHF channel 9, but it still shows up as 8.1 when "scanned" right?

Correct, does show up as 8.1..

Looks like we too are in the same boat. I get all but ABC HD also. But was 1 week ago, strange..

Since WFAA started broadcasting 8.3 I have noticed a slight decrease in signal lock with my E* 811. Was around 82-84% but now is locking in at 79-81%. For some reason, it almost seems that HD OTA signals tend to meander a tad bit. It took me almost a month of constant adjusting of my Terk 55 before I was able to NBC to lock in - but it cost me PBS most of the time. Tuning in all OTA HD channels can definitely be a challenge!

OK....I FINALLY GOT 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 by mounting the Radio Shack VHF/UHF 75XR outside where the DB4 was!!! It cost me channel 27-1. However, I'm going to try using both my DB4 (which I got everything but 8.1 etc.) AND the Radio Shack mounted on the same pole. Problem is...I need to move the bracket since it's in the way of my dish. No time today....I'll do it tomorrow, but it looks like I'll be good for MNF!!!

Hey all. I live down in the Lakewood area and went to Radio Shack several months ago for a new antenna. At Radio Shack that had a area diagram that showed the type of antenna you would need for different parts of the area. Interstingly, if you drew a line from the majority of the antennas south west of town to my house, the downtown area is in a direct line and cast a "shadow" (of poorer reception) over my neighborhood.. As a result, the chart said that I needed a stronger antenna. I also consulted Antennaweb.org and looked up all of the channels. According to that site, I needed a "purple antenna" with a pre-amp to pull in FOX. Everything else should go okay without an amplifier.

The house I live in is 30+ years old. The prior owner had an areal antenna. Where the antenna was hooked to the wire that fed into the house, the prior owner went from coaxial on the antenna to a two-wire flat antenna wire through the attic. He then has an old Radio Shack Amplifier hooked up (that takes the two wire antenna and outputs to another two wire antenna wire) that goes across the attic and down the wall to the wall plate.

Here is my problem. I cannot get a consistent signal on FOX. Trying to watch the Cowboys game today my signal went anywhere from a 55-72 score. (I have a Pioneer Plasma and the OTA tuner is in the box.) ABC and CBS regularly score in the low 80s and high 70s and I never have any problem with any of them. When the signal strength is in the low 60s, that is when the artifacting begins.

The amplifier in the attic works. If I unplug it, all my antenna signals are in the single digits. Am I suffering because of the two-wire antenna wire? Does that make a difference? Should I swap out all the wire to some type of coaxial wire? (Take into account the total beating that would be to rewire everything.) Could it be a matter of aiming? When I set up the antenna before, I made sure that the antenna got good scores on ABC, CBS, NBC, but what not worried about FOX because FOX was still fake-HDTV.

Rewiring in the last resort. Today all of the amplifiers that RS has are coaxial. I could put converters on the two-wire antenna wire, but would't that just degrade the signal more? Any thoughts?

Many thanks in advance.

Matt

Did you say your antenna is on the roof? I'm afraid you problem might be the twin flat lead wire (300 ohm vs. 75ohm coax). IMHO coax throughout greatly improves signal quality. Also, a quote from my Mits. DLP manual with built-in OTA tuner... "Mitsubishi strongly reccomends against using antennas with twin flat leads. Twin flat lead antenna wires are subject to interference which may adversely affect the performance.....recommend using coaxal antenna cable."

You might consider rewiring. Funny....I have an RS amplifier and I get 1 less channel when I use it so I pulled it out. Good luck.

...having someone from a home theater store come out and look at the wiring? Or is that just a waste of money? Do they have antenna experts?

Matt

I guess...if you don't think you can do it yourself.

Why don't you just try connecting a single coax cable from your antenna to the tuner and re-scan. Don't worry about routing the cable through walls or attics yet, just run it across the house, out the window, down the attic door, whatever.....just see if that will improve your reception. If it does, then you can worry about routing the cable so it looks nice.

Craig... I'm wondering why you've been having so many problems. Where exactly in Allen are you? I'm just north of Alma and Mcdermott, and although weak, I get 8.1 and 27.x no problem with the $21 RS UHF antenna in the attic.

My 8.1 does have occassioanl dropouts, so I'll be switching to the $25 UHF/VHF at Frys (have been waiting for cooler temps!). I did add a cheapy amp just to help my 8.1 dropouts.

Twin Creeks. Argh...I don't know why...I mean, I've finally solved the problem with a sledge hammer (2 antennas on the roof) but it doesn't seem right. The only thing I may try is a smaller VHF, maybe in the attic but I've had NO luck with antennas in the attic. I get every channel known to man right now, so I may leave it alone. The antennas are pretty obnoxious, but you can only see them from the alley.

For some reason, my OTA tuner (Samsung 360 HD) doesn't report signal strength (unless I'm just missing it).

Yea, you are right behind me... Not being able to check your signal strength, it's very possible you just dont have it pointed properly yet. On my Samsung, I can check strength, but it's done per channel. I dont recall the exact place in the menu it's hiding, but it's there

Hmmm, I'll look for for the signal strength menu option tonight. Granted, I used a cheap keychain compass to point my antenna(s) in the direction according to antennaweb.org (196-199 degrees), but I thought there was at least a 90 degree....I guess it could need more fine tuning.

Thanks.

I have found that with the Terk 55 you have to be right on with the pointing. There is very little room for any deviation. Even being off 2 degrees will cost me a channel. The joys of a directional antenna.

I live in Flower Mound and have a Sam SIR 165 OTA HD tuner connected to a Sony HS 10. My HT is located in a room on the second floor of my house. Upon initial setup, in order to view HD programs right away, I used a RS amplified indoor UHF-VHF antenna. I was able to receive most stations, but had to rotate the antenna for each channel. In addition, people movement in the room would affect reception. I then installed a RS VU-90 all channel outdoor antenna in the attic with a 100' run of coaxial cable. I could now receive fewer channels, but with no interference problems. Back to RS, where I purchased a mast mounted signal preamplifier. WOW!! All Dallas area digital channels are received all of the time.

Am I missing anything with not pulling in 27-1??? That is the only channel, I think, that I cannot get.

Rangers' games?

Other than an occasional Ranger game (which is not in HD), you are not missing anything I can think of. As long as you can get 4-1, 5-1, 8-1, 11-1, and 13-1 (and that is debatable), you are pretty golden regarding HD.

For some of us, UPN and WB are pretty important also and they do both broadcast in HD.

And you are absolutely correct. I forgot about 21-1 and 33-1. My kids would kill me

Any idea if we will see Mavericks games in HD from D* again this year????

Haven't seen any announcements on the Mavs site with a schedule.

Hi,
I am watching the NLCS on Fox OTA on my Mits WD-62725 now, in Dolby, and ever so often I am hearing a sound, sort of like a little zapping sound - but not all that sharp, and the picture sort of freaks out. The score line at the top appears briefly toward the bottom, the pic is just kind of mixed up, then it straightens up. It has probably happened 20 times or more, so far. Is anybody else seeing this kind of behavior? I am trying to decide if it is broadcast or hardware related...

Thanks!
Randy