Dallas, TX - HDTV - Page 14

No signal from KERA-DT here. Signal strength here - 0.
Usually 90-92

Ouch! 0%?

Anyone else?

Is it time to contact KERA, or should we give them a day (assuming the problem started over the weekend, and their engineers were out)?

Xesdeeni

Newbie help here.
I just received my new sammy 5674 DLP HDTV and I plan on having Direct TV or Voom HD installed soon. I would like to get High def local channels so I assume I need to get a OTA. I live in Little Elm. At the CEA website it said that I would need a Large-Directional Antenna with Pre-amp. Most of the digital channels are approximately 40-45 miles away. Here are my questions.
1. What antenna (brand) do I get. I have no clue. Does the amps come with the antenna. Where do I get this antenna.
2. Will Direct TV or Voom install this for me, and can I trust them to do this correctly.
3. I would prefer to have it mounted in the attic. Does this hurt reception.

Any other reccommendations welcomed. Sorry abount the clueless questions. By the way, I have to get channel 8.1 for Monday Night Football.

Not at home to check KERA, but was anyone having issues with KXAS(NBC 5.1) yesterday?

I relocated and mounted my attic antenna yesterday, which previously was just sitting on a box up there. Was able to pull in all major stations before, including 5.1.

All other channels are coming in just fine. Even getting 27-1 sometimes, which I had never pulled in before.

You will need an antenna. Go HERE and input your address and it will give some suggestions on your needs for the antenna.

I have my antenna mounted in the attic(36-38 miles from transmitters) and can pull in just about all channels just fine(except my new problem with the NBC channel mentioned in my post above).

The installer for DirecTV or Voom can install for you but will charge you to do so. It is up to the installer how much that will be. If going DirecTV, they may still have a special that will include an OTA antenna in the install.

Just checked KERA digital channel 14 (13-1) on both of my ATSC tuners. Working fine in Flower Mound at 1252 pm. Not sure if it was down this morning however.

Still 0% here. Must have cut power WAY down for whatever reason. I am 75.1 NM away from Cedar Hill but my house sits on the tallest point between Little Rock and Ft Worth.

To the guy in Little Elm: Make sure the decking of your roof does not have an aluminum sheet. You will be able to see it in the attic. If you see wood between your rafters then you should be good. If you see aluminum, you must mount outside.

I experienced problems with dropout OTA beginning right after Thanksgiving. I sent an inquiry in to KERA via their web site.

Here is the response I got on Dec 3:

==================================================
Thank you for contacting KERA. We apologize for technical problems and
appreciate your patience while we work on repairs.

xxxx xxxx
Manager
Audience and Member Services
KERA Unlimited
==================================================

Since then my dropout problems have cleared up. I can only assume they were operating at reduced power for a while, or had some other problem.

I searched this thread with no results so I am posting. I live in Denton now, but I am moving to Ponder in the srping. I have an HD ready tv, but no HD yet. I am waiting until I move (live in an apartment now). I am not planning to get satellite or cable, but I am interested in getting OTA HD. Can anyone advise if this is possible in Ponder?

Also, what OTA receiver does everyone suggest for the best reception in the northern part of the metroplex?

I live in Flower Mound and get by quite well now with an attic medium gain antenna and a channel master amp. Ponder looks to be further, about 50 NM northwest of the Cedar Hill transmitters. There is no question it can be done but you will probably need an external antenna on a mast or rooftop and an amp to get all of the digital channels. The lower frequency analog channels will probably not be to good, however. Not sure if you would do this yourself or not.

If you just want an inexpensive OTA ATSC tuner I use a Sylvania SRZ-3000. It works fine for me as a second tuner to my Directv/OTA Samsung 360 STB. It has never failed or locked up in 6 months I have had it. Do a search for the SRZ3000 and you should be able to find them for $50 or less on ebay and elsewhere.

If it were me....

I know that you said you werent looking to get satellite....

What I would do, is go on ebay and search for a RCA DTC-100. I have seen them go for $150. You probably won't get one with an unused VALID access card for that price(card not necessary for OTA only use), however It has an exceptional OTA receiver that is not integrated with the satellite,i.e. you have to press the input button to switch from sat to OTA. THEN if in the future(which i'm sure you will) go with DTV all you need is to hang a dish and get a card. Cards for receivers that have no card are $90... BUT, if you are a new subscriber, i'm sure you can get DTV to work a deal for you just to get your business.

UI hadn't heard of that high of a price for a card before. I always hear of $20 for replacement cards on this forum and others.

Mabye DTV is different. I haven't dealt with DTV about this. That is what PIGasus charged. It was $40 if you had an old card to exchange and $90 if you didn't.

Does anybody know if Comcast devotes a full 18Mbps to their HD channels??

I have DirecTV and recently stumbled upon the info at wide movies dot com showing the small bandwidth the DirecTV provides for HBO HD, Showtime HD, ahd HD Net Movies. This was disappointing but consistent with the picture quality that I have observed.

Two years ago, the decision to get DirecTV was easy--my local cable, AT&T, didn't provide and HD.

Now, I'm think about getting the HD Tivo from DirecTV. However, $999 requires a little research first.

It seems that if I switch to Comcast, I can get their HD DVR for $10/month. It may not be a good as the Tivo but is a lot cheaper. I'd like to know if the Comcast signal is better that then compressed one from DirecTV.

Thanks

Directv will launch 2 more satellites in 2005 to add 500 more channels and bandwidth, and 2 more in 2007 to add an additional 1000 channels and bandwidth. The additional satellites and bandwidth will add more HD content, more local HD channels, and 'other enhancements'. I would stick with Directv and see what happens. For comcast to keep up they would have to run fiber to your house.

http://digital-lifestyles.info/displ...bution&id=1569

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/aboutu...id=09_08_2004A

Ok I got all pumped up and excited about HDTV!!! Ready to go out and buy. Then I started looking into it a bit more and learned that in order to get the local channels that my option really came down to an over the air antenna. So, I go to antennaweb site and put in my address (zip code 76226). It basically comes back saying a couple of things

1. Only analog stations within distance
2. I need a large directional antenna with amp.

So I start doing some more research and basically have come to the conclusion that I am screwed!!

Please tell me I am wrong; I live in the freakin DFW metroplex - albeit slightly north, but not in the woods!!

Hopefully there is someone lurking on these forums that lives in my community that has had a good experience. I live in Lantana, TX which is basically a Master Planned Community in the Flower Mound Texas Area. I am between Lewisville/FlowerMound and Denton.

I don't want some gigantic Antenna on the roof or even in the attic, so what if any options do I have?

Ok I got all pumped up and excited about HDTV!!! Ready to go out and buy. Then I started looking into it a bit more and learned that in order to get the local channels that my option really came down to an over the air antenna. So, I go to antennaweb site and put in my address (zip code 76226). It basically comes back saying a couple of things

1. Only analog stations within distance
2. I need a large directional antenna with amp.

So I start doing some more research and basically have come to the conclusion that I am screwed!!

Please tell me I am wrong; I live in the freakin DFW metroplex - Denton County.

Hopefully there is someone lurking on these forums that lives in my community that has had a good experience. I live in Lantana, TX which is basically a Master Planned Community in the Flower Mound Texas Area. I am between Lewisville/FlowerMound and Denton. To give a further land mark I live off FM 407. I am about 5 Miles West of I-35 East.

what if any options do I have?

Also here are my antenna web scores
-----
blue - uhf KTXA 21 UPN FORT WORTH TX 159° 35.7 21
blue - uhf KMPX 29 DAY DECATUR TX 136° 19.1 29
blue - uhf KUVN 23 UNI GARLAND TX 159° 35.7 23
blue - uhf KLDT 55 IND LAKE DALLAS TX 119° 10.2 55
blue - uhf KDFI 27 IND DALLAS TX 159° 35.7 27
violet - vhf KDFW 4 FOX DALLAS TX 160° 35.9 4
violet - uhf KSEX-LP 57 IND DALLAS TX 159° 35.7 57
violet - uhf KFWD 52 IND FORT WORTH TX 159° 35.7 52
violet - uhf KDAF 33 WB DALLAS TX 160° 38.9 33
violet - uhf KUVN-CA 31 UNI FORT WORTH TX 202° 26.2 31
violet - vhf KDTN 2 DAY DENTON TX 159° 35.7 2
violet - uhf KDTX 58 TBN DALLAS TX 159° 35.7 58
violet - vhf KERA 13 PBS DALLAS TX 158° 36.6 13
violet - uhf KSTR 49 UNI IRVING TX 160° 38.9 49
violet - vhf KTEN 10 NBC ADA OK 15° 93.7 10
violet - uhf KPXD 68 PAX ARLINGTON TX 159° 35.7 68
violet - vhf WFAA 8 ABC DALLAS TX 160° 35.9 8
violet - vhf KXAS 5 NBC FORT WORTH TX 159° 35.9 5
violet - vhf KXII 12 CBS SHERMAN TX 10° 67.9 12
violet - uhf KXTX 39 TEL DALLAS TX 159° 36.0 39
violet - vhf KTVT 11 CBS FORT WORTH TX 158° 36.6 11

That website just seems to be screwed up. A decent suburban outdoor antenna without amplification should work just fine for you.

For way of comparison, a friend in Carrollton was considering getting an OTA digital tuner and asked me to bring one over to test with his attic-installed antenna (in a single story home), and it was able to bring in any major digital channel just fine and without breakup. Reception was fine without any sort of amplifier, either -- despite the fact that his analog reception isn't very good using the same antenna.

As an experiment, I also brought along an old Radio Shack two-bay bowtie indoor antenna and was able to bring in several stations at his home with that antenna (which also works at my own home in Plano).

Argyle isn't that much further out that you should require much more of an antenna system than my friend has. You may be able to get reception even with a good indoor antenna, although a decent attic or outdoor antenna would be better.

I live in Flower Mound and get all digital OTA channels with an small attic mounted antenna and a channel master amp. Argyle is 14 miles farther away from Cedar Hill than I am but it is definitely possible. Channel 8-1 and 27-1 will be your biggest challenge but the others will work fine.

Well get this, I went to my local Home Theater Store today in Southlake and they told me that an attic mount was not really a good idea for me since I have "cool ply" board in the attic (energy effeciency stuff). So I would want to mount outdoors. Anyone have any suggestions on Antennas I should look towards given this? Again I am the guy in Lantana/Argyle TX.

Obviously if I have to mount on the roof I want it to be as small as possible.


David

The same one you were going to put in your attic should do. look in your attic, do you see aluminum beneath the roof decking between the rafters??? If no, no "Cool Ply". Did the guy at HTS build your house? I spent 2 years installing DBS in Frisco, Plano, and McKinney. I saw this in 2 of 10 homes. 6 of 10 in high end homes. Just pull your attic door and look straight up. You see plywood, your good. They don't put it on the outside of composite(shingle) roofs. Oxidation and kinda hard to nail through

I do have the aluminum cool ply stuff in the house. I had the builder put it in, and I just went to the attic and double checked it. I had not yet selected an Antenna for the Attic, (newbie at this stuff), so open for suggestions. According to Antenna Web I need large directional with amp. As it appears I am now likely to have to put that outside (chimney mount or something), I am open for suggestions on something that will be powerful and give me 45 miles of range, yet be as small as possible. With each moment that passes by on this, my wife is rethinking her approval to let me do this stuff! First it was antenna in the attic, now antenna outside. She's not thrilled HAHA!

I dont know the modelnumbers but here in Hopkins County which i'm 77.5 N.M. from the transmitters, I am using the $50 Radio shack antenna. It is up 20'. Yes I am using an amp but I only need that for analog. My signal level on 4-1(35) is 92. When I unplug the amp it is 90. If your house is 2 story, you will have what I have and be 40 miles closer. You should be good.

Be sure and get the Yagi style and not let the salesman sell you something "Better"

Here's a pic of mine. It is up 20'. The tower to the right is up 30'.

I live just down the road (407) from you in Lewisville. We have a Radio Shack antenna mounted on the chimney and have no trouble pulling in the OTA stations. We also get the CBS affiliate (12-1) from Sherman. I tried an amp from Radio Shack but it seemed to be too much--took it out. Our mast puts the antenna about 20' off the ground but we are on the downslope of a hill and I wanted to get over my neighbors house.

Thanks--As I read the press releases, the two satellites in 2005 are going to provide local HD coverage--I get that OTA. If more national HD doesn't come until 2007, that's a long way off. It seems that DirecTV is primarily interested in expanding their local marketing potential in smaller metro areas. The only area that I care about is DFW.

Clearly switching to Comcast would be much cheaper than buying a $999 HD Tivo. I'm just trying to figure out what I could expect from PQ.

I was reading the info about how in DFW you can receive NBC and CBS via Direct TV since the station is owned by a central entity. Is there a catch with that offer for those of us in this DFW metroplex area or is it that simple?

Hi all...

Please help me understand something. I just stuck an OTA antenna up in my attic and got everything all plugged up. Did a channel scan and I get several digial channels plus even more analogs.

I start flipping through anxious to see some brilliantly clear pictures...and I'm still waiting. I happened to catch COPS and it was in HD. I definitely saw the difference there. It was full screen and really clear. The rest of the channels are pretty crappy. The info display when you change channels tells me that some things are 720p and others are 1080i but it doesn't look any different than SD, even has the black bars down the sides. What gives?

Plus, I can't seem to get any audio out of the opticial cable. Will it only spit out DD stuff via OTA or can I get even 2 channel audio from the optical? I thought that I had maybe hooked it up wrong or my AVR wasn't configured correctly, but I believe it is. I hooked it into the DVR/VCR2 optical port and assigned optical 2 (where it's hooked into) to that setting, but no sound.

I have the TV set to variable out. I tried looking in the manual but I didn't see what I'm missing.

Please tell me that HD is better than this...

also, I know that I haven't perfectly directed my antenna just yet, but I would expect that I either get a signal or I don't (or maybe lots of drops). I get a pretty solid signal (no meter) but it's not HD.

Ideas are greatly appreciated as this isn't exactly what I thought it would be, but I know it's probably user error or misunderstanding, so please enlighten me.

Thanks all!

On the audio, I cannot attest to. However, it sounds like you have the video straight.

Your TV is displaying 1080i because the signal being transmitted by the station is 1080i. However the video they are passing through the signal is not.

Tomorrow you will be amazed when you watch the football game. DAL/NO(FOX)and NYJ/PIT(CBS) will be in HD. On FOX you should see 720p and on CBS you should see 1080i.

Unless your TV is a DLP set. When watching non-hd shows with the black bars, you MUST stretch it to fit the screen or you will permanantly burn the black bars in your screen.

Look here for more info on HDTV programming.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=164671

It says ABC is 720p. WFAA is the only ABC station in the country doing 1080i

Yes, you can get NBCHD(WNBC) CH82 and CBSHD(WCBS) CH80 without waivers and it's free...no catch. When FOX goes on soon you will qualify for that as well.

WFAA is the only one of the "Big 4" networks that is not network O/O.
When ABCHD comes on you will need a waiver to get it. If you are in the metro area: Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, Collin, Kaufman, Johnson, and Parker counties. Then you can forget the waiver. Don't even try it.

I got waivers for CBS and ABC but was denied FOX and NBC. I live near Sulphur Springs. 10 more miles to the east then I would have got them, However, I would have needed a waiver from KLTV in Tyler for ABC.

To sum it up, when all the networks are on D* HD I will have them all (EST) and will have HD west coast for ABC and CBS.