Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD - HDTV - Page 354

I'll ask around but my guess is that Verizontal is asking for the moon; and the city won't budge.

VZ typically [read the Charles County docs] wants to be able to swoop in, skim off the dense, high profit, neighborhoods; and promise to serve the rest of the city whenever they get around to it. The city wants a solid guarantee as to when ALL of the residents will be served because a poor citizen's vote counts as much as a yuppie's.

VZ also won't serve anyone unless they get a cable-tv contract to their liking. While they tell the PSC's [in VA, the SCC] how the copper phone plant is obsolete and not worth their maintaining, because fiber is coming!!! they also tell cities You'll never see it unless we get what we want. And what She wants is: no regulation, esp. re: price increases and channels offered.

You can't blame them for trying. They want as much profit as they can get. I'm just glad they've been in Prince William County for over two years now.

I saw that someone posted the Anne Arundell County "World of More" Comcast schedule, but I did not see that anyone posted the Baltimore County Comcast schedule, which is also out now. I received the flier in the mail while I was away on vacation, so I'm not sure the exact day it arrived. All dates are listed as "Starting On or about/around" so take with typical two grains of salt:

1st Round Channel moves - Nov 17 (21 Channels moving to digital equipment only - AnimalPlanet, E, EWTN, Food, FX, Hallmark, HGTV, History, Lifetime, MSNBC, Mtv, Syfy, TBN, TCM, Weather, TLC, TNT, truTV, Travel, TVLand, & Versus - some real biggies in there)

2nd Round Channel moves - Dec 17 (24 Channels moving to digital equipment only - A&E, ABCFamily, BET, Bravo, Cartoon, CNBC, CNN, HLN, CSN, Comedy Central, Discovery, Disc Health, Disney, ESPN, ESPN2, FoxNews, Golf, MASN, Nick, Speed, Spike, TBS, TVOne, USA, VH1 - more big names here too)

New High Definition Channel Adds - Nov 28. All of these are HD, to avoid typing 'HD' over and over again.

BET, BigTen, bio, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CBS College Sports, CMT, CNBC+, HLN, Comedy Central, DisneyXD, E, Encore, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, FoxBiz, fuse, G4, Hallmark, IFC, MLB Exta Innings/NHL Center Ice Featured Games (1 channel), NBA League Pass/MLS Direct Kick Featured Games (1 channel), IND PPV (had this previously, it went away to make room for others, now it's returning?), Lifetime, Lifetime Movies, MGM, MLB Network, Mtv, MSNBC, NBATV, NHL Network, Nick, PlanetGreen, QVC, Spike, Style, TCM, Weather, Tennis Channel, Travel, truTV, tvOne, VH1, We. Channel numbers were also listed, indicating a move of the HD channel block / cluster moving into the 800s, which will match other Comcast systems I have seen channels listed for online.

By my count, that is 44 new HD channels; 3 of which are PPV (the two sports "season" pack ones, and INDPPV) and 3 which are in the Sports Entertainment Pack (BigTen, CBS College Sports, & Tennis), making the other 38 new national HD cable nets. Add that to Baltimore County Comcast's current 43 channels, including 8 local networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW, Independent, PBS-DC, & PBS-Balt), 2 regional sports nets (CSNDC and MASN), and 4 premiums (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, & Starz). That should give Comcast Baltimore County subs, like me, a total of 87 HD channels, with about 77 of them available to so-called Digital Classic (I think; I get the terms mixed up), customers. Pretty sweet.

On the minus side, by my count, the "standard service" folks, who currently have 59 channels, will be dropping 45, down to 14 channels, unless they get their digital equipment. I guess this means I have until Nov 17 to get my mother in law her DTAs. The costs of progress!

We don't even have DTAs in the city yet. Maybe we'll get new HD channels in December!

Quick update from VHF-land here in Elkridge. Finally got around to buying more coax, so I moved the 7777 from the UHF mast to the VHF mast in order to have the shortest possible run from the VHF side. No appreciable difference on 7, but 9 at the moment is seriously locked on (100/100), and now 11 and 13 are actually usable from the back of the antenna (not that I would, but still). So moving the amp definately had the intended benefit, even if it's still not quite enough for a reliable WJLA.

Right now, it looks like if WJLA gets their STA for 52kW, I'll be seriously in business up here. That's almost twice as much power and I'm pretty close as it is !

edit: I do still get some bouts of overload on the VHF side, similar to when my neighbor mows his lawn (already requested he get a new spark plug!). Is there any chance that adding a low/high VHF combiner with a cap on the low VHF input to use it as a filter help with that? I don't know where most of that interference would come from, but I'm guessing it's on the lower frequencies. I don't expect a magic bullet, just curious if it's worth the few $$ and my time.

edit 2: In case anyone cares, my 2009 Fall Season D.C. setup will be as follows. A 42XG for channels 33-50, the Y5-7-13 for 7 and 9, and a custom made single-channel yagi JoinTenna-ed in for 27. The 42XG is great at the higher frequencies, not so much on the lower ones. It seems to really fall apart under UHF 35 or so. (33 and 34 are so powerful, it's still fine for those) Until tonight, I had it JoinTenna-ed in for 48/50 (@49) in combination with a C4, but the C4 has proven to be extremely unreliable for 35 and 36. I lose 24 and 30 in this setup, but honestly the novelty of those channels has long since worn off for me Building the yagi for 27 was a lot easier. I might contact TinLee about a custom diplexer for the channels under 33, but that seems like a lot of $$ for foreign news and channel 15. Maybe if one of the VHF channels moves back into lower UHF.

This stuff is fun ... when it works. lol.

Try the H20 specific thread.

Anyone know where I can buy the Silver Sensor or DB2 locally?

They finally did this re-alignment overnight. The IMG hasn't been updated (guide was updated as of ~noon) on the VZ box, and my TiVo doesn't have data either, although the channel map has updated and they can be added manually. I put a lineup change request on the TiVo website.

If anyone in Howard/AA counties lost the postcard, the changes are:

SD
WRC from 4 to 16
WTTG from 5 to 17
WJLA from 7 to 18
WUSA from 9 to 19
WMDO from 21 to 24
UNI from 20 to 21
WUTB from 24 to 9

HD

WRC from 504 to 516
WTTG from 505 to 517
WJLA from 507 to 518
WUSA from 509 to 519
WUTB from 524 to 509

Since the channels are virtual, it all seems pointless, but it has happened!

I would certainly try it. I may have an extra one you can use to test with. Both channel 11 & 13 are much improved here in much of northern VA with a LO VHF/FM trap.


I find the 42XG/91XG to work quite well on channels 21 & 22.

Well that seems like an odd choice.

So was this only for the area between DC and Baltimore?

As far as I know, it was only done on the Howard/AA system.

RCN to add NFL RedZone HD.

http://www.yachtchartersmagazine.com/node/1103429

Got this in the mail today for Montgomery County - the digtal transition (elimination of analog channels) will finally begin on November 30 (15 analog channels deleted) with the second phase about 35 days later (January 6) when an additional 21 analog channels will be deleted. So after the transition only analog channels 2 through 34 will be available. On December 12th we will be getting 48 new HD channels.

Based on this Comcast should have room after January 6 to add a lot more channels.

The RedZone SD is in the Comcast guide in Baltimore. Can't confirm if the channel is live.

I have NFLRZ at 734 and NFLRD at 263 near the HD channels. They are on different QAMs. 263 could be the HD version. It wasn't announced like 734 was.

I sold out to the man.

I was home sick today and thanks to the rain had a most miserable experience trying to watch TV. In fairness, I think my house grounding rod may need to be replaced which is probably MOST of the problem with the rain, but still. It was so frustrating trying to watch the US Open coverage on either 9 or 13, that I've had it.

I ordered the FiOS "Local TV" package and I'm now out of this game. VHF sucks and I'm done trying. Fall season starts in a week, and I absolutely have to have good recordings to send my lovely wife who's in Germany for the next YEAR patching up our injured servicemen and servicewomen. No CBS at all that works during inclement weather is just not an acceptable situation.

I still get to keep one antenna to pick up the slack with missing FiOS channels from D.C. (20, 50, 66), so my fun isn't completely over, but still ... I've had enough. Those channels are easy.

Thank you all for your assistance and time lately, but I'm probably going to just fade away into hard-wired obliviousness here. LOL. Oh, and if you'll forgive me ... SCREW VHF.

Noooo!

- Trip

I wonder if we could pay for basic cable for everyone if the FCC auctioned the entire broadcast TV spectrum. >-)

I got the same mailing -- great news. I just wish the switch were happening faster, so I could see more hockey, football, basketball, and baseball in HD this fall.

I also noticed that we're getting MGM HD (new) and TCM HD. Great news for movie buffs.

I did the best I could for almost 2 years now my friend, I was just pushed over the edge today. To be honest, the biggest selling points were that they would have it installed next Sunday (24 hours before the season starts!), I'm quintupling my Internet speed (is 3Mb/s, will be 15Mb/s) and most importantly ... when you add phone/15-5 data and Local TV together, it's CHEAPER than we're paying them now for just phone+DSL. You can't compete with that. Local TV is 100% ClearQAM, so all I need to do it plug it into what I've got going now, set up the TVs and Media Center for QAM instead of ATSC and I'm done.

I'm actually looking forward to this, from the hobbyist perspective, after thinking about it a bit more. Consider the freedom I'll suddenly have! I can go mess with whatever I want to mess with OTA, and there is no timeline anymore. No need to have it all working again by 8:00pm. I can totally try for Philly or Delmarva channels now. Goodness knows I have the equipment, it's just not pointed in the right direction.

If there's any regret, it's that I won't have the complete 2-city setup working anymore and I can't give you TSReader reports anymore. That was really fun for me I'll still be able to hook you up with stats from 4 (48), 5 (36), 20 (35), 32 (33), 50, and 66 (34) from the antenna that I intend to keep at this point, though [42XG + CM7777]. Those are the only channels that particular aerial gets 99-100% from the location I happen to have it :-)

I really do believe that I'll have MORE fun now in the end since that whole "has to work" restriction will be gone. It was $12.99/mo, you can't blame me, right?? Don't think badly of me!!! heh.

I'd say that seals it.

I am in Columbia, and I am seeing the same issues as you are. Granted, I don't watch TV much since we turned off Fios and moved to an antenna (about 6 weeks ago), but this is the first time I've seen this issue. I've lost 9, 11 and 13 this morning, which is annoying only because my kids like to watch the CBS Saturday cartoons.

I've got a ChannelMaster 4228HD on the roof pointed toward DC. Because of my nearly in-line location between DC and Baltimore, the backside of it picks up all my Baltimore stations, and it has been working flawlessly up until today.

In your opinion, is there any OTA solution for me? Would an amplifier be of any use at all?

Unfortunately an amplifier will probably make things worse. The best solution is to augment the 4228 with a VHF-HI antenna. Combine the 2 antennas using a UVSJ, and you should get 7,9,11,& 13 (possibly 8) with the antenna pointed towards DC.

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...3-(Y5713)&c=TV

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=UVSJ

I look at the list of new HD channels on Comcast in Montgomery County and I want to cry. We in Arlington (and Alexandria) have Scientific Atlanta equipment, which means no DTA's, which means no analog migration, which means no new HD channels for probably the next year. And Fios is widely available in Arlington (but not in my apartment) so I don't know why they are so slow or don't seem to care about the competition. Make sure when they add those new channels, you give us a full report so us Arlingtonians can dream!

I haven't gotten the info in the mail yet.
Those listed as going digital are already available via QAM tuner without a box. Will they still be available as such? If they decide to block them, and require an upgraded subscription, I'll cancel my cable.
J

it depends on where they put them. if below ch100 then it's possible they'll still be on basic and clearqam.

i haven't seen any channel assignments for these where i live in balto county.

jtm

I believe they are, but out of curiosity, why does that matter? Several of the local channels that are clearqam are on the 108 region.
J

Just got the flier. I contacted comcast, and they said I could use my QAM tuner to get the new digital channels (no box). They were actually friendly and helpful!
J

Hi all,

I live in downtown Baltimore and am thinking of the buying the Terk HDTVa antenna (maybe even the ss-3000). Has anyone had experience with this antenna in the city area? I only really care about getting abc, nbc, cbs, fox and possibly pbs. What antennas have people used in the city and how have they been? Will my qam tuner be able to pick these up if the antenna works fine?

Thanks for any help, it would be much appreciated.

** forgot to ask -- are these channels broadcast in hd?

Please report your opinion after you have the Local Option in service. I find that Fios Local for my address includes a total of 66 channels for $12.99/month. I think I would be interested in at least 40 of these channels, and 9 are listed as HD.

I have the cheapest Wal-Mart antenna in my office across from Mercy Hosp. and get all of those channels. (Yes, they all carry HD programming.) I am on the West side of the 14th floor but a few feet away from a window, with multiple A/C chillers and and ducts on the roof next door, between me & TV hill.