St. Louis, MO - HDTV *OLD* - Page 15  

Another thread here on AVS relates a customer service conversation regarding some fixed limits on the number of HD channels Charter is capable of carrying in any single market.

Normally I probably wouldn't bother reposting here something that's completely unattributed. But on the other hand, there does seem to be some logical foundation to this.

And as Charter has repeatedly demonstrated that it can't be bothered to COMMUNICATE its plans to its subscribers (Oh, the irony), I figure I might as well let it rip...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=355052

DJ -

It's tough to try to remotely troubleshoot something like your problem, but we can at least give it a shot...

Here's some things to consider:

* Try to find out what the model number is for the Winegard antenna. More to the point, you should try to find out if the antenna is VHF/UHF or UHF only. If it's a combo, it probably would help to have a UHF-only instead. That's not a guaranteed fix, but having UHF-only is more likely to pull in all the stations reliably.

* I don't know your exact location, but it sounds like you're pretty close to the cluster of transmission towers in St. Louis. As a result, it may be difficult for you to aim your antenna in such a way as to pick up all of the stations from all of the towers. Understand that I'm speculating here, but if that's true, you might try to see if you can aim more directly at KMOV to pick up that signal, probably at the expense of one (or more) of the stations that are further to the periphery of KMOV. If you find that's the problem, you could consider a second antenna or a rotor as a long-term solution, or just temporarily re-aim the antenna before the Super Bowl to ensure you're going to get a good signal then.

* Does your receiver have multiple antenna inputs (Ant A and Ant B, for example)? If so, you might want to try connecting an indoor antenna to the second antenna input (Silver Sensor) to see if you can pull in just KMOV over that antenna. My DTC-100 allows me to do this, though I haven't actually tried feeding two antennae at the same time. I'm not sure how that would work on the Samsung box, or the unified program guide (the guides are separate on my older STB). Maybe someone else here with more experience with the Samsung STB can chime in whether that's an option or not. Again, I wouldn't normally suggest this sort of kludge, but as you sound very determined to see the game in HD, it might be worth a try. BB sells the SS and they generally have a very liberal return policy, so if it doesn't work out you're not really out of pocket, though of course there is an additional hassle factor.

That's all I can think to suggest at the moment. If another idea occurs, I'll post it here. Hopefully one of these ideas will help you, or maybe someone else can come along with some suggestions that fix your problem.

4113,

I would hope that you're correct.

While I've already conceded that there's no substantiation for the idea that Charter is currently limited to eight HD channels, at least I presented a source where this possibility was raised.

Your comment "there is no fixed number" doesn't really add any new information. Is this an opinion, or do you have inside information that might explain why Charter has been foot-dragging on delivery of a credible HD service?

Interesting story on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal:

Playful on the Outside, Paul Allen Tightens Grip on His Fortune

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1...age%5Fone%5Fus

It appears that you need to be a subscriber to access the full story.

Not a lot of detail about the future of Charter in this article, though it is one of the focal points. The "wired world venture" concept is attributed directly to Paul Allen and says that he continues to push this "vision" hard, "most notably advanced set-top boxes that will give greater capabilities to channel-surfing cable viewers."

I completely agree with BudShark's observations. While Charter has apparently mastered the puff-piece world of the Businesswire and PR Newswire, it seems to treat the need to deliver on customer needs and expectations as an inconvenient afterthought.

Bring on Comcast and let's be done with these bandits.

What? Haven't these guys heard about the "cable pig" promotion?


The following is from SkyREPORT:
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DirecTV Set to Raise Prices, Readies New Offer

DirecTV will increase the prices for its base packages between $1 and $3, depending on the package, beginning March 1, SkyREPORT has learned.

The pricing for the packages with local TV channels are as follows: Total Choice with locals, $39.99 a month, a $1 jump; Total Choice Plus with locals, $42.99 a month, a $3 increase; and Total Choice Premier with locals, $90.99 a month, a $3 jump. Without locals, package prices are: Total Choice, $36.99, a $3 jump; Total Choice Plus, $39.99, a $2 increase; and Total Choice Premier, $87.99, a $2 increase.

Packages with foreign language channels, premium networks and HDTV selections will not change, along with prices for pay-per-view and the DirecTV DVR service.

As for its upcoming national offer, DirecTV will offer new customers its Total Choice with Locals package for $29.99 for the first six months of a subscription, a $60 savings. Customers who purchase new equipment, agree to a one-year commitment and subscribe between March 1 and July 17 will be eligible for the offer. The Spanish-language DirecTV Para Todos package with locals also will be offered at the discount.

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